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i 

t 

t 







ADDRESS 


DELIVERED BEFORE 


THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN CITIZENS OF 


L E M P S T E R , N . H. , 


ON THE 


EIGHTH OF JANUARY, 


1 8 3 9 . 


By EDMUND BURKE^ Esq., 

• II 

OF NEWPORT, N. H., 


NEWPORT, N. II . 

II. E. S.. C. BALDWIN, PRINTERS, 

18 3 9 . 





■ I 




patriotic address to.the Democratic Republican citizens of Lempster on the glorious 8th of Janu 
ary, and would respectfully request a copy of the same for the press. 


Maktin Beckwith, ) 

Daniel M. Smith, | 

Aaron Miller, j 

John Dodge, Jr., )► Committee. 

Lemuel Miller, 

Joel Dame, 

Sam’l P. Calkins, 


Newport, Jan. 15th, 1839. 


Gentlemen : . " 

Although I am confident that the Address delivered by me, before the Democratic Republic•^ 
ans of Lempster on the 8th inst., is not worthy of the high commendation which you are pleased 
to bestow upon it ; yet I cannot decline a request for its publication, particularly when it is 
expressed in such complimentary terms. The Address, ther,efore, is at your disposal. Be pleas¬ 
ed to tender to our Democratic Republican brethren of Lempster, in behalf of whom you act, my 
■sincere thanks for the civility with which I was treated on the occasion alluded to, and my best 
shes for their success and prosperity, political and in other respects. 



I am, Gentlemen, very respectfully, 

^ Your friend and servant. 


Edmund Burke. 


To Martin Beckwith, Esq., and others. Committee. 


# 







/ 




ADDRESS. 


.‘83a 


Introduction. 

Fellow Citizens, 

I am extremely gratified to behold an assem¬ 
blage, so numerous and so respectable, as that 
which has convened here on this occasion. And 
I would assure you, that I am conscious that it 
is no high-wrought expectation of the powers and 
eloquence of the speaker who is to address you, 
that has brought you hither ; but a deep and a- 
biding impression of the importance of the great 
e/ent, which we have assembled this day to 
cornmeraoraie. And now, without promising 
anything that will interest you, I would bespeak 
yoiir candid and careful attention to the remarks 
which I am about to submit. And this request 
Decomes the more necessary, as a respectable 
portion of this audience is of that class of socie¬ 
ty, who, it is presumed, do not take a deep inter¬ 
est in the subject which will form the theme of 
my discourse. And I would take this opportu¬ 
nity to tender to that portion of the audience to 
whom I allude, my thanks for honoring us with 
their presence and countenance on this occasion. 

hfan is a creature of passion and impulse as 
well as of reason. He is operated upon by a 
vast variety of motives, which impel him in a 
thousand diverse directions. Hence collisions 
take place among men in the pursuit of their va¬ 
rious objects, aggressions result, and finally, the 
termination is open hostility, or war. Conten¬ 
tion and bloodshed have marred and defaced too 
many pages of the history of our race. But it 
is gratifying to know, that the light of knowl¬ 
edge and the spirit of the age, are rapidly soften- 
ing'down the asperities of the character, and 
mitigating the temper of our species, by supply¬ 
ing the mind and heart too long usurped by ig¬ 
norance and passion, with just views of the rela¬ 
tions by which we are surrounded in societ}’-, and 
with the higher moral sentiments of justice, be¬ 
nevolence and philanthropy. 

The triumphs of arms have been celebrated by 
all people, and in all periods of history, as the 
most important events in the annals of nations. 
But, victories are worthy of the observance of 
men, only, as they are evenp which assure us 
of deliverance from ojiprcssion, or, confirm thp 


ft • 

ascendancy of liberal opinions over the doctrines 
of the absolutist and despot. The successes 
which proclaim the triumph of the usurper and 
tyrant over the rights and liberties of his fellow 
men, are events which should cause us to mourn, 
rather than to rejoice. But victories achieved 
in a glorious struggle to secure the independence 
of our country and the freedom of her citizens, 
are events which cannot fail to awaken emo¬ 
tions of the highest joy, and deserve to be notic¬ 
ed and honored, with those observances, which 
best express the satisfaction and gratitude which 
they excite. The victory of New Orleans, which 
we have assembled here this day to commemo¬ 
rate, is an event of the latter discription. It 
was gained 'in a just and glorious cause. It 
was an event which proclaimed deliverance and 
liberty to our beloved country. It is unnecessa¬ 
ry, as it would be improper, for me to go into a 
description of that celebrated battle, for the cir¬ 
cumstances under which ^t was fought and gain¬ 
ed, must be familiar to every intelligent citizen 
of our country. It is sufficient to say, that the 
Battle of New Orleans is one of the most cele¬ 
brated on record, rivalling in splendor, & in the 
importance of its results, the celebrated battle of 
Platcea, which secured the liberties of Greece. It 
was hailed by the patriotic of our countrymen, 
with the most rapturous emotions of joy and en¬ 
thusiasm. It terminated the contest in which 
our country was engaged with England, as has 
been most emphatically remarked, “in a blaze of 
r^lory & it secured to th^ illustrious Chief who 
commanded, and the brave soldiers who fought, 
an imperishable renown, and an immortality of 
fame. And however bitter and rancorous, how¬ 
ever virulent and relentless, arc the assaults 
made by political enemies upon the character of 
the venerable Victor of New Orleans, the name 
of Andrew Jackson is destined to occupy one of 
the proudest niches in the temide of fame, to em¬ 
blazon one of the brightest pages of history, and 
to be remembered by mankind with admiration 
and gratitude—admiration for the splendid a- 
chievements of him who bore it, and gratitude 
for the great and valuable services he has reiuler- 
ed in the cause of human liberty and social im¬ 
provement. 






4 


Principal olject of the Address. 

It is not my purpose to confine the remarks I 
may make on this occasion, to a consideration of 
the circumstances and consequences of the great 


the truths of science, we must analyse and re¬ 
solve those combinations into their original ele¬ 
ments. These remarks are as applicable to Gov¬ 
ernment as to anv science—for the science of 


event, of which this day is the anniversary ; viewed in its true light, is the most 

to devote the principal portion of the time 1 shall important of all sciences,—the highest branch oi 


occupy, to the consideration of topics of a politi¬ 
cal character. And as the name of the chief ac¬ 
tor in the battle of New Orleans, is intimately 
connected with the political history of our coun¬ 
try ; and as he was, for several years, the head 
and leader of the Democratic Party, by whom he 
was elevated to the Presidency of this Ptepublic, 
and to which we, fellow citizens, profess to be¬ 
long; such an appropriation of the day will not 
be out of place, nor improper. Our theme on 
this occasion will, therefore, be of a political 
character. 

Parties inseparable from free government. 

One of the infallible incidents of a free gov 
eminent, is the division of the people into par¬ 
ties. That division, generally, proceeds from, 
and is based upon, opposite principles and ten 
dencies,^ as I shall attempt to show hereafter. 
This republic, as all others have been before if 
is subject to that division of parties, which is the 
unfailing consequence of its peculiar form of gov¬ 
ernment. It matters not, particularly, what 
names parties assume. The real distinction be¬ 
tween them, and which forms ihe line of demar 
cation; is the difference in the nature of the prin 
ciples they profess in theory, and endeavor to 
carry out in practical government. In this coun¬ 
try the anti-liberal party has been generally 
known as the Federal party; ahd the other par¬ 
ty, as the Democratic. To the last named party 
w'e profess,”fellow citizens, to belong. 

The name of a party as I before remarked, is 
substantially nothing; the principles which it 
professes, are the only things of importance, or 
worthy of consideration. We profess to advocate 
& support that great principle, or rather that class 
of political doctrines and principles, which are 
known under the general name of Democracy.— 


Ethical Philosophy, 

The Democratic Principle. , 

On a former occasion, and not unlike the pres¬ 
ent, I defined the Democratic Principle to be, 
“ that mighty and irresistible power of numbers 
which slumbers in the masses.’’ It is the mighty 
ihrobbings of the heart of the People for free¬ 
dom, improvement and happiness. It is that ir¬ 
repressible and irresistible impulse, ever active 
and ever effective, implanted in our very being 
by the Great Author of all, which prompts the 
mass of mankind to raise and elevate them¬ 
selves in the scale of moral and intellectual im¬ 
provement, and to attain the noble destiny, for 
which their capacities and attributes are so ob¬ 
viously and eminently designed. This impulse^ 
(or aspiration it may more appropriately be call¬ 
ed,) has ever operated upon the mass of the Peo¬ 
ple with the pressing energy of an elastic spring, 
.<;oraetimes with more efficiency than at others, 
to impel them along in that career of improve¬ 
ment for which their nature and faculties are 
fitted and destined. Its- operations and effects 
can be traced in the rudest ages, from the very 
moment when man first congregated in social 
communities. Its workings among the masses 
can be distinctly seen in the tumultuous and 
tuibulent democracies of Ancient Greece. It 
may be clearly perceived in the effervesence of 
popular passion which sometimes disturbed the 
equanimity of the higher orders in the Republic 
of Rome. The gloom and terror of the Dark 
Ages,-for a time, chilled its energies, and re¬ 
pressed its action. But, with the Reformation, 
it again broke forth. Then the sun of science 
arose, and shed its glorious and resplendent 
beams, upon a dark and benighted world. Then 
the art of Printing, the Telescope, the Micro- 


Wweiuufc^mpreh^ Mariner’s Compass, the great 

trines and principles, and if they are based uponi“’™,'“ civilizalion and refine- 

the snre and immutable fonndations of triUh S'S, ’ ’ the DsMOctiATic 

justice, it is out duty to abide by them, IhrouX'^^''"''''',^ 

every vicissitude of time and circumstance, an°d Us mission nilh redoubled energy and 

as the individual members of a free government!''’""’ ' u " ‘'t"" ’ 

recognizing as its first and fundamental princi-!a ds illustrious ally, 

raio rrrin. .gnvn- d n-ir-v-rx- nn er-.rr. _ X\ie Christian Principle li hoiS wrought out since 


pie, THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE, We 


bound to make those doctrines and principles the! L ’ I dammar lo ai iniei i 

guide of our political conduct and Si 

shall, therefore, attempt to elucidate briefly the'?«^” 


then, are familiar to all intelligent observers. At 

found the 31any 


brieflv tl reduced to the lowest - 

nature of the Democbatic Pki.nciple, and They were sunk in the grossest 

its outward manifestation, or expression, in gov-i'?’?"''''’i*’ 'heir lives, lil>- 

ernment. ^ jerly and property, were at the mercy of the 

*. , j , ides])otic Few who had made themselves masters 

Theie is no method by which we can obtainjof the world, and had, arrogantly and impious- 
clea^ perceptions of truth, except to revert backilv, placed their feet upon the neck of the People, 
to first principles. The deductions of all .sciencellt is the glorious energy of the Democratic 
& philosophy, are but the combinations, or rath- Principle which has raised man from his hum- 
er^the concentrations, of elementary principles, ble prostrate condition, and elevated him to that 
in order cleaily to comprehend and appieciateldegree in the scale of improvement at which 


we 








now liud him. It U the origin anJ author, of all,basis of this form of government is tue sovfr. 
iMTn have takenlEmsTv anu supkemacy of 

t’lleek P^hUcal world. Shc^uldlform recognizes no distinctions amongst individ- 

N e seek for the causes which rendered Greece soluals, or clas>es. nor grants to th^m anv nar icit 

lth!ln°^-^ should we ask whyjlar favors or exclusive privileges. It \s ionnded 

Athens is so famed in story, for her philosophvdupon the great principle of Equal Riguts It 

painti°nt''?n^ statuary, herjassumes as an indisputable axiom, the capacity 

-should we^asl hoVrnmP^ msiitulionslof the People, if properly educated and instruct 

self government. As the wants and 


^ Wk^th^ cau^^‘he 


we look for the causes of the wealth and power 
01 the Republic of Carthage—should we seek to 
know whence the light of the Reformation— 
whence the power which impelled our Pilgrim 
Fathers to the Rock of Plymouth, to found an 
empire whose progress from infancy to maluri- 
ty, IS almost like a vision, fleeting indeed but 
splendid,before the eyes ot nations—and whence 
the more illustrious results of our own glorious 
Revolution ?—We return to the wonderful work¬ 
ings of the Democratic Principle & the mystery 
IS solved. But how the heart of the pliilanthro- 


ba.sis of legislation, it assumes that the aggre¬ 
gate mass of the people, are best acquainted 
,with, and best qualified to judge of, those wants, 
and therefore, belter fitted and prepa-ed to leg¬ 
islate fur them. Its aim and object, are the wel¬ 
fare and happiness of the People,' collectively 
and individually. It admits of the utmosi limit 
of freedom, physically, intellectually, and social¬ 
ly, which is consistent with the safety and well¬ 
being of the State. It looks to the interests and 
happiness of. the humblest, as well as the high¬ 
est, member of the community. Its grand oh- 


Ss^ol'icv^nd''' n f i-'-'-g .he inliViduallo'pur/ue 

o£ uch 'r n 'r Ifr'± =>"‘1 -'b- °''n .veil '^.ein^, 


o£_such a chain of magnificent effecls! And|a, he pleases ; bnt aUvays pro:hrbilinrhim“f™m 

hopes lillpnrnngingupon the rights of others. It encour- 


reasoning from the past what ^glorious a..upuu u.e ni-nis oi oiners it encour- 


burst upon his mind ! He looks into the depih. 
of futurity and sees in Hie lapse of lime, the 
ultimate, but certain, regeneration of man in 
his moral and social condition. He beliolds him 


honors and advantages of the'State. It opens 
the field for all, and each may gather as much 
of tire harvest as he pleases. It leaves everv 
one to do for himself, and to enjoy the fruits of 


tr, r..ii •-.mil une lu no lur nimseii, ana to enioy the fruits of 

m the full enjoyment ot intellectual light and lib-|his own industry, skill and talents • or to taste 
erty ; emancipated from the mists of ignorancelihe evil which follows Irom his own vices! in- 
and the terrors ot superstiiion ; free in Ihonghtjdolence ami crime. This is the iheoiv of De- 
‘ viewless breezes that roamimocracy. It is often violated in practice, as we 
nr ^^!if’ and guided in his in-|shall see hereafter. The other forms of Govern- 
tercourse with Ins tellows, by the simple senti-'ment are more or less, modified and tempered 
inents ot tiulh, justice, and benevolence, v diy the Democratic Pruncifle, which in a great- 
Brief vkw of the different forms of Govtrnvitnl—f^' or less degree pervades them all. I'he moral 
of Democratic Government. [power of numbers is fell in the purest and most 

I have thus fhr spoken only of the Democroth'''^^^'^^''-^ of Ulonarchy, and causes even the 
in the abstract, and in its effects : for reckless ot tyrants to pause before thej’^ out- 

flnii rarinr»in1« lll-zi ; f 1 .. rnSf0 tOOlTrOSSlV. thPCOinilH^n QPn M »-»a lan I w- /xT ; n .w 


Frinciple 


111 luc ciuMia(.i, aim 111 jis eiiecis ; lor - •'-• • .v, i-cmicuiuy imi- 

Iden principle like iiUelleciual power,bio grosslj', the common sentiments of jus- 
that, known only by its manifestations,^bd humanity. 

Xl’Uir*]* if r - ^ P 4lt ^ 71 __ Ti * • 1 « 


it is a hidden 
and like that, 

or the effects which it produces. I shall uowlViolation of the Democratic Prinriph, and oener- 
speak of its manifestation ui the form of Gov- nl runs of Corporations. ° 

' The Deniocralical form of government, as I 


pri 

the 


There are now, anfi ever In.ve teen, bn, r„v'berore re,,,arkcd ,rh;"e,;‘,r „f, theTr a ’ pHn- 
inciplesor Govornment:_.lie government olc,|.|e of Kmu-re. It is not, hSwever a - 

e i-en-, andthe goyornmeni of the 3Iaiiy. 'ihejuays adminisitred in ibe spirit of that principle 
rmer has assnmpd ihnsp nppu inr nm. ... . ___ . . . t. iv.i|»ie 


, ■ -III me spirii oi tnat nrincin e 

former has assumed those peculiar tuodifica-even in this ( Ounli y, in which it is most fully te¬ 
ll,.ns known as Anslocraae.i Ohgarclaes, aiHbcogiiized in llieoty.' Every law, and every 
Monarclues ;-the first ol l ie three, being a lorini,Measure of government,•wliich fav’ors a sin-le 
of.governnient m which the sovereign and -su-individual, or a class of individuals is a viok 
prcine power, is vested by Ibe constimtion in aU.n oftha, principle. In this couiiirv the mos 
few persons, enjoying privileges and iinmuni-obvions violaiiou of that principle, is, ,hc crel 
ties wlncli the people do not posse,ss ; the second r,„„ of mimntmis. Every grant of power 'and 
IS a lorra of government in which ihe .sovcreignlprivilege by Ibe Legislative will of a Lale is an 
power is exerciscl by a lew persons who havemfislraction of a'corresponding proporii<;n of 
nsurpcil II, and who do not possess any consti- powenan.l privilege from ihe s'overei.n power 
tminnal privileges ; an<l Ihe Iasi is that form iiAvliieh, under oiir form of governmeiii Is the nco 
which the supreme power, is vested in a single pi,-. It lakes power ami privilege Iron he Man,, 
person. The government of the iiym,y-_the op- and gives ihem to the A,a. Therefore the 4a”u 
posite amlaniogonisl ot the oihets-is that lornnof every corporation, is a violation of ihed'cmo. 
ol government known as a De,wci!,icy, fheicratie principle of Equal Eights, The benefits 





6 


which a corporation confers upon a community, 
way he, a fair equivalent for the amount of power 
which is granted to it, although such a conclu¬ 
sion is not clear of doubt. Common business 
:orporations are the least obnoxious of that class 
of ideal personages—beings,as has been shrewd¬ 
ly remarked, “without bodies to be kicked or 
souls to be damned.’’ They originated in Rome 
luring the reign of the Emperor Numa, and 
were associations of capital and skill for mere 
business purposes. They were, therefore, fa¬ 
vored as well by the emperors as the Republic 
afterwards. In England, at one period of herli 
histor}^ corporations were also highly favored. 
According to the theory of the British Con 
stitution, the sovereignty resides solely in the 
monarch. All grants of immunities and privi¬ 
leges to corporations, therefore, deprived the 
Crown of a corresponding proportion of power 
and influence. In the ruder ages of the British 
Monarchy,the people had little protection from the 
rapacity of the sovereign ; and corporations, as 
they deprived the crown of its power & influence 
to some extent,and acted as barriers between the 
king and the subject, were therefore highly favor 
ed by the courts and Parliament. Yet, their rights 
were not in England, as they have been claimed 
to be by their friends in this country, deemed 
sacred and intangible. The doctrine of '^vested 
rights'^ had not then built around corporations, 
a wall of sanctity which could not be overleap 
ed. They were not dignified by the name of 
contracts, and therefore, covered and protected, 
with the impenetrable shield of inviolability.— 
But, they were even in England, (and in Rome 
also,) subject to the Legislative power. Parlia¬ 
ment always exercised supreme power over 
them. It could and did unmake them when it 
pleased. A signal and remarkable instance of 
the exercise of this power, w'as the total and 
complete suppression of the monasteries, in the 
reign of Henry the VIIL But, in this country, 
they assume to be above the law and the people. 
The people can make and unmake their consti¬ 
tutions of government when they please; they 
have supreme power over the laws they enact ; 
they can overturn judicial tribunals and erect 
others in their stead ; they can exercise the high¬ 
est powers of sovereignty ; but they cannot 
touch a corporation ! A petty corporation for 
manufacturing negro cloths, or paper dollars, is 
deemed by the friends of those bodies a more 
sacred thing than the constitutions of our gov¬ 
ernment state, or national. It derives its very 
being and existence from the -legislative power, 
and that power is ever under the control of the 
people ; yet, a corporation'is too sacred a thing 
for the people to lay their profane and vandal 
hands upon ! In this instance the creature as¬ 
pires to be above the creator ! How preposter¬ 
ous and absurd the assumption ! But the evil 
of the assumption is not in its absurdity. Were 
the doctrine contended for by the friends of cor¬ 
porations, to be admitted by the people, the most 
dangerous consequences would ensue. The lib 


erties of the people would, in process of time, be 
substantially legislated away, and this country 
would present to the world, the strange anomaly 
of a republic governed by an oligarchy of cor¬ 
porations. The doctrine of ^‘vested rights, or the 
inviolability of charters, should be repudiated 
upon the very threshold. It is false in principle, 
absurd in theory, and most mischievous and 
dangerous in practice. I shall waive for the 
present any farther general remarks in relation 
to corporations, and pass to the consideration of 
a class of corporations which have grown up in 
his country within the last thirty years, and at¬ 
tained to a degree of power and influence, that 
threatens to shake the government of this repub¬ 
lic to its foundation, if not to revolutionize its 
present form—I allude to Banking Corpora- 
lions. And I would here say, that the remaind¬ 
er of this address, will be devoted to a consid¬ 
eration of the prominent questions growing out 
of the Banking System, Exchanges, &c. &c. 
which are now undergoing a thorough discussion 
by the American People,—a discussion which 
cannot fail to elicit the truth. 

Prediction of William Pitt. 

The celebrated British Statesman, William 
Pitt, once made the following remark in refer¬ 
ence to this country: “Lef,” said he, ‘Hhe Amer. 
icans adopt the funding system, and go into their 
BAmUAG mSTlTUTJO.^S, and their boasted 
independence icilL be a MERE PHAATO.M.” 
The first was adopted through the influence of 
Gen. Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treas¬ 
ury, and the last the Americans have 'gone into’ 
deeper much than any other nation. The form¬ 
er, however, we have got rid of, by the pay¬ 
ment of the National Debt, through the instru¬ 
mentality of the illustrious Jackson. It remains 
to be seen, if the event consequent upon our 
“going into” the Banking system, will not justi¬ 
fy the prediction to which I have alluded. The 
intelligence and patriotism ot the people alone 
can save our countrj, from the catastrophe fore¬ 
told by the sagacipus and profound statesman, 
whose words I have quoted. 

Views iDith regard to Banks and Banking. 

Banks of some description or other, have long 
existed. They were not unknown in the Repub¬ 
lic of Rome ; but there jewellers were generally 
bankers, and received and paid out money. A 
Bank was established in the city of Venice du¬ 
ring the era of its commercial prosperity. Banks 
have been established in the cities of Amster¬ 
dam, Hamburg, and many other places ; but 
they were Banks of Deposite and Discount differ¬ 
ing radically. in principle from^ the Banking 
system of this country, and of England ; and 
free from the evils and objections, which exist a- 
gainst the British & American Banking systems. 
Banks of Circulation, that is, Banks possessing 
the power to manufacture the money they loan, 
were first introduced in England. The Bank of 
England was the first, and is the only incorpo- 
rated institution in that country: the other Banks 




7 


being mere private copavinersliips. like the un¬ 
incorporated Banks of Scotland, the private 
property of whose members is holden for the re¬ 
demption of their liabilities. But, such a rotten, 
corrupt, and mischievous system of Banking as 
this country is now cursed with, has never been 
known in any other age nor nation, nor would 
it be tolerated even in England, the mother of 
monopolies, exclusive privileges, -and legisla¬ 
tive favoritism. 

Amount of nominal Bank Capital, 

The bare .statement of the amount of Banking 
Capital in this country, shows conclusively, that 
the system is a STUPENDOUS FRAUD upon 
the people. The Banks of this country profess 
to be founded on real capital, and specie is the 
only real capital on which they can be founded. 
Yet, a statement of the amount of specie in their 
vaults, and in the country, and of the amount of 
the capital paid in,” as they say in their reports, 
shows that it cannot be true that the capital of the 
Banks is a specie capital; the only true and le¬ 
gitimate capital for Banking. It appears by a 
document on the subject of Banking in the Uni¬ 
ted States, published by order of the Senate at 
the last session, that, on the 1st of January, 1835, 
the number of Banks and Branches in the U. S. 
was 594, with a capital paid in” of 8331,250, 
173. In December 1837, the number of Banks 
and Branches was 882, with an “ authorized cdL\>- 
ital” ot 8440,195,710. The specie in the vaults 
of the Banks on the 1st of January 1837, was 
837,913,340 ; and the whole amount of specie in 
the country, including that in the Banks ai that 
time, was supposed to be about 880,000,000. It 
cannot, therefore, be pretended for a moment, 
that the 8331,250,173 of Banking capital, nor 
indeed one seventh part of it, could be composed 
of specie. Of what then does it consist ? Of 
mere moonshine, or something quite as unsub¬ 
stantial, as a little enquiry will show. 

Deceptive mode in rvhich Banks are created. 

To illustrate the manner in which Banks arc 
got up, and to show the nature of the Bank ^^cap- 
ital” of this countr}', I can do no better than to 
borrow from Gouge’s celebrated work on Bank¬ 
ing, an abridged account of the origin, or modus 
qperandioi creating a country Bank ; w'hich will 
serve as a specimen of the whole. It is this— 
We will suppose a county to contain a thousand 
families of ten persons each, and each family to 
be worth .$5000. The wealth of the community 
is then 85,000,000. One tenth of the wealth of 
each family, or 8500 each, we will suppose to 
be in silver money, or gold. The remainder is in 
other kinds of property. The distribution of 
wealth is left to natural, that is, to equal and 
just laws. Every man enjoys what he produc¬ 
es and what he saves, and no man enjoys what 
is produced and saved by another. The yearly 
income of the community is 81,000,000 or 81000 
to each family, 8700,000 of which is derived 
from industry, and the rest from capital at the 
rate of six per cent, profit. Ten individuals ot 


this community who are of a speculative turn c 
mind, grow tired of the labor ot producing an 
saving, and wish to grow rich in some mor 
easy and expeditious way. They apply to th 
Legislature for the charier ot a Bank with 
nominal capital of 8100,000, which is obiaiuet. 
The charter provides that the capital stock sha 
be divided into 1000 shares, and that as soon a 
85 is paid in upon each share the Bank sha 
commence operations : the remaining payment 
to be regulated according to the direction of th 
stockholders. As the bu.siness of Banking i 
novel and unknown in the community, peopl 
are not ready to take slock, and the whole caj 
ital is therefore subscribed for by the ten pe 
sons who take each 100 shares, pay down 850 
each, which constitutes a real capital of 85001 
The Bank then commences operations. It issue 
.$25,000 in notes.which is in proportion of 5 to 
of the capital stock,which is in fact a mofeequr 
proportion than the circulation which the mt 
jority of Banks bear to their real capital stock 
some as appears by a late report of the Massachi 
setts Legi.slature having a circulation of 13 to J 
The notes of the Bank are borrowed by the le 
individuals as .speculators. Thus it will be see 
that each individual has $2500 at his coinrnan 
instead of $500. The residue have each onl 
their $500 of cash capital. The speculator! 
therefore, have each 82000 more ot pecuniar 
means at their command, than their neighbors 
By calculating the use of the money at six pe 
jent., the annual income of the ten speculator 
is $1120, in.<?lead of $1000, which it would hav 
been without the agency of the Bank ; and th 
advantage which the Bank charter gives then 
over their neighbors is therefore worth to eacl 
8120 per annum. It is true they pay to th 
B^ik six per cent, on the money they have boi 
rowed, as individuals, but they receive it bad 
again, as stockholders. Thus it will be seen, tha 
the 8500 would produce to each speculator bu 
$30 a year ; with the aid of the Bank charte 
which enables him to make it into $2500, i 
yields him 8150. Is not the great principle o 
Equal Rights violated in this operation ? bios 
clearly. But this is but the commencement o 
the business. The stockholders at length con 
elude to pay in the whole capital stock, and ihi 
is the way the operation is performed. The} 
give their “ stock notes,” as they are called, ot 
demand to the Bank ; which is, in plain English 
giving their individual notes to themselves stock 
holders ; and thus the Bank capital is all “ pau 
in,’’ and the machine goes into operation to tht 
full extent of its chartered privileges. 

They then go on and issue their notes as t 
corporation nithout interest, which the communi 
ty purchase as money, with good notes with in 
terest. The Bank loans out all its capital, ex 
cept a little specie, which it retains in order K 
get the character of a “ specie-paying” Bank.— 
It issues its notes to the amount of 8100,000, if 
capital stock. Thus the ten speculators, setiiiq 
aside the 85000 in specie which tliey keep ii 




their vaults, and their '‘stock notes,” amounting 
to $95,000, receive interest at 6 per qent. on 
ijltlOOjOOO, when in fact their real capital is but 
§5000. This is not their only source of profit. 
The public after a while pet into the habit of de¬ 
positing their surplus rnoi! 'y in the Bank. These 
:]epo.siies answer a.s so much additional capital, 
and are made the basis of loans and circulation. 
Thus it ns clear, that nearly all 
Bank, as those iusliuuions are constituted in 
;his country, i’s in fact borrowed from the commu¬ 
nity, for the use of v.'hich that very community 
oay inlerest to the Banh. Is not this a violation 
af the Dcmoceatic Piukciple —a violation ol 
Equal Rights ? Most truly has the Banking 
system been called a “ PRIVILEGEDFRAUD,” 
and a stupendous one. It enables the Few to 
grow rich, who produce nothing, at the expense 
af the Many, who jiroduce every thing of value. 

Fanks of circulation and their evils. 

Against Banks of Feposite and Discount 
the true commercial system of Banking, nothing 
can be urged. Banks of circulation are the 
vampires which suck up the life blood of the 
community, and destroy its healthful energies.— 
Pile great evil whicli flow's from them, grows out 
Df the power which they have to inake the mon- 
3y which they loan. The managers of Banks, 
like all human beings, are stimulated w'ith the 
love of gain. Having the power, it is not sur¬ 
prising that they should manufacture just as much 
money as they can loan, without producing a re"' 
iction which will destroy,or derange the machines, 
k\'ith which they operate. And hence the ru¬ 
inous expansions and contractions of the paper 
currency, which are the bane and the curse of 
;liis country ; constantly producing overaction 


and revulsion in trade and commerce ; ruining 


fortunes. The operation goes on until the a- 
mouni of the circulating medium exceeds its rela¬ 
tive proportion with that of other nations. Pri¬ 
ces increase in proportion, and at last get so high 
that the foreigner, who furnishes us with fabrics, 
cannot afl’ord to take his pay in articles of our 
production, nor will he take it in paper money; 
^ -If worth nothing to him. He, therefore, 

the capital of a demands the specie for the balance, which is due 
liirn. That must come from the Banks, In or¬ 
der to meet the demand of specie for exportation, 
the Banks are obliged to refuse furtlier accommo¬ 
dations, and even to curtail their issues ; and then 
commences the revulsion. Lenders grow suspi¬ 
cious of the borrowers ; the rate of interest uses 
to an enormous per cent. ; prices fall ; first 
that of labor, for the employer, deprived of 
means, must turn the laborer out of employment ; 
and the consummation of the catastrophe, is 
bankruptcy, ruin, and distress. A stagnation of 
business takes place, and men; having but little 
else to do, begin to quarrel about the the causes 
which produced the calamity. Through the a- 
gency of the natural energies of the People, the 
country at length revives from the shock, the 
Banks again expand, and the same circle of over¬ 
trading, panic and banlcruptcy, is again described. 
This is no exaggerated picture—it is sober fact, 
as an appeal to the history of this country for the 
last thirty years, will abundantly prove. 

The Panics"’ growing out of the Banking 
System that have taken place- 

In 1816 a state of things existed very similar 
to that in 1836, that year of boundless prosperity, 
which was the harbinger of, and which ushered 
in, the terrific panic of 1837 ; which will be nO" 


and 


outrivalling 


thousands in their transitions ; 
the svveeping tornado in the distrcvss and desola¬ 
tion, which they produce. I will endeavor to il¬ 
lustrate the evils which flow from the expansi¬ 
bility of a paper currency, and its concomitant, 
zontractibility. 

When the state of trade is favorable, and there 


ted as an epoch in our liistory. On the first of 
January 1811, the Banking Capital of the United 
States was $52,610,000. On the 1st January 
1816, it had been increased to $89,820,000. In 
1811 the Bank note circulation was $28,000,000; 
in 1816 it was $110,000,000. In consequence 
of the resumption of specie payments in 1817, 
the Bank circulation was reduced to $60,000,- 


no call upon the Banks for specie, they feel 0 , 000 . The bankruptcy and distress whicli was 


.iturai desire to extend their business, and there 
/y increase llieir profits. Applications are made 
for loans, which are supplied on good secuiitj'. 
The money borrowed of the Banks, is used in bu¬ 
siness. It goes to purchase lands, houses, mer¬ 
chandize, and all kinds of property. This ex¬ 
ample stimulates others to apply for loans, which 
farther increase the amount of the circulating me¬ 


prodaced throughout the Union, by such a sudden 
and enormous contraction of Bank issues, have 
never since'been paralleled. Real estate fell one 
half, and other descriptions of property in propor¬ 
tion. In 1819 another revulsion took place, 
growing out of like causes. The new Bank of 
the^U. S. had gone into operation two years be¬ 
fore, and had added $35,000,000 to the Banking 


Rum ; trade in all its branches is still more ex-capital of the Union, and 10 or 15 millions to 
:ended ; the prices of things rise rapidly ; largo the circulation. A scene of sp eculation in public 
qceculalions are made in real estate, cotton, and lands, and in other property ensued, similar to 
ether property ; importations of foreign goods in-jthat which occurred in 1834—5 and 6, and was 
crease ; and everything bears the oppentrance,followed by like disastrous results. Another pan- 
ef real and unbounded prosperity. The manTa'ic took place in 1822 ; another in 1825 ; anoth- 
eegins to pervade all cla.sses ; lenders^ become er in 1828 ; another in 1834, created in part by 
Dorrowers and commence the business ol specula-'politicians for party purposes ; and the last and 
ion, in the hope ol mote rapidly increasing their sevenf/t in 1837, when the grand ev'ent was con- 








9 


•ammoted by ihe universal suspension of specie'ending Sept. 80th 1833. was $108,118,311 j In 
payments by the banks. 1834, .$120,526,332; in 1835, $ 149,89.5,742 ; 


Causes of the late Pressure. 1830, $189,980,03.3; in 1837, $140,989,21 /; 

•' 1 Qoo c I 1 o Ann i oo-r -.t- 


i-/ (IU5CO U! 2. 9 C* '’1 - ^ y. - 1 ~ • 

, , . .. . . . « . 'in 183S, §1 12,000,000. In 1837 thn bank cir- 

It \vi not be unintereslingr to examin'; brietlv in- , i . c aa aaa ..aa j 

, r 1 • . • 1 . . ' culation was reduced to about §90,000,000 and 

to the causes of this ast panic, and to trace its , . , i , i • .i 

, . . ... . • tlieir loans and discounts nearly in the same 

history. I causes were se m op p^^pQ^iion, and thus the panic of that year was 

eralionm lS31bylheBankoflheUn,ted .Sm.os,^^^|,^^^j cause and effect more 

when it cominenced its war upori the Oovern*. *, , • • u u .. « . u- 

r. , . r r •. u . clearly conjoined? How can any intellijjent man 

inent. with the view to force from it a recharter. . . / . “ . , . . / • .i 

iiiciii, » III I c- , • , r • .1 rdoubt, that the late commercial pressure in this 

Durinnf that year, and in the first six months ol , • , . .. u ♦ j . .u i- 

iio, V,-'.., ,, , . . I 11 - country, IS to be attributed to the mischievous 

1832, the b. b- Bank increased its loans and dis- , ..,i.;„i, , 


1832, tlie L'. - (um ruinous Banking System which we have a- 

counts from about $43,000,000 to over $70,000, , j declare, that he 

000. In .'Xu'Tust 1833 it commenced its system f . ... „ r «. • i .■ . • v 

in .lupjuci. , I .. •'i who investigates the lacts in relation to thissub- 

of ron/rac/tnw, and in one year reduced Its loans . . .._ .l_ i .. _ .u. 


of ron/rac/tow. and in one year reduced Its loans'. . j..” i .u i 

Ol ‘ , . , . AAA lect, and then charges the late pressure to tho 

near V $ 17,000,000, Its circulation about $3,000, <’ - , ,, ® ‘ , , 

V ‘ > > ’ ... * , . measures of the Ciovernment, must bo either de- 

000 and increased the specie in its vaults, about _ . . . , i • u- 

ooo, diiu nioie I'ic . , ficicnt in mental acumen, or depraved in his mor- 

the same amount, which ol course was abstracted , . . , i . .i u . i ■ i 

me sumo .iiiiouiii., al principles. He may select the character which 

from tho genera, circulation of the country. Ihe 


State Banks acted in unison with the mammoth 


will suit him best. On the contrary, the Gov¬ 


ernment has done every thing within its limited 

means to prevent it, and to soften its rigor when 

'ter upon us. I'he introduction of some 40 

, -j , or 50 millions of specie, the specie circular, and 

contracted; and hence the , i .• r .u ii • , a 

, , ’ . rthe new valuation of the gold coimg«, iniiigated 

and the commencement ol , . .a-. .r .i_ 


bank. When the great monster expanded its di 
diiriensions, like the frog in the fable, they .. 
expanded theirs. When the great monster 
contracted, they 
panic of 1834, 


toi — ^ ^ 

I.. -- , much the effects of the re-action which the banks 

that premeditated scheme o oper.itions, Yy^pbrou<^iu upon the country. i\o, it was not the 
produced the panic ol 183/. On the Islof^. =_.i.„ r 


produced the panic ol n it' ^ ,|,g yvljicb caused the 

September 1834 the loans ^ | ; ^1'' jate commercial crisis. And they will in every 

were $47,058,49.^^.^Specie s/ • , > glT-period of three or four years, produce just such 

culation $10,298,0 / /. 1’® J* ® ofTnets. as loner as thev exist in their present form. 


culation $l0,-98,o//. rV>°r ir”^ J effects, as long as they exist in their present form, 

it had increased its loans to ^ • . ' -i ’ > with the vast powers for evil which thev possess, 

circulation to $22,009,4/ » ^ IYY q have since 1816 had seven panics. Their 

hout thu same as in l>-o4. n t le ns o anu | • i ,.pi„rn is rpirnl.nr as ihfi pbh and flow 


ary 1837 its loans were about the same, but its 
circulation had been reduced one half. On the; 


* w 

iof the tides of the ocean. The eighth will come. 


InG' • ~ • 

--^ b ,1 . r p 1 ,„ ,i..^|Already are the signs visible which portend its 

1st Jan. 1834 ihn "■I'ole number of banks ^nd for the benefit of my friends 1 

U. S. exclusive of the ^allon.^ jnn!:will here venture to make a prediction. Tbo 

the whole amount af their loans $.'24,1 v___ __ ;,i . i,„ki., u.. 


the whole amount af ' ! ’, qq-’ next two years will probably be years of great 

circulation $94,839,520. On t le sst • ^ jprosperitv, the last apparently the most prosper- 

the number of banks h<id increase to )• i nurinir thnt neriod thev can safelv venture 


and discount'to§52.a, 115, / 02, jj considerable distance, upon tl 

185,840. 1 bus was ^dded in t ie space o ir treacherous ocean .of credit. Then 1 

years to tho ship, take in sail, and prepare for 

enormous amount ol I VO 1 i . ^neut which will sween over them in 18 


During that period they can safely venture 

the stormy 
they mu.si 
tho teni' 

. .... r o,-.pe<?t which will sweep over tliem in 1840 or 41 

SBVbNTY TWO MILLIO.VS; of \vhich 21/ ^ . , , . „r____ ...m 


and 55 mil Independent Treasury is adopted,it will op- 

aunt.*., an ^'erateas a counteracting cause against the over-ac- 

a) )e .1 e w ’ of the banks; and perhaps pre\ent. or post- 

into the ^^^ipone and mitigate, the catastrophe which sue! 


millions were in loans and discount 
lions in circulation. To this m 
000,000 of specie, introduced 

by tho policy of General .Jackson’s .vill inevitablv produce, 

lion, which mi<rht have increased the stimu-i 


lion* vvnn;u V..- i ^ * • i 

lus to overtradinfT, but mitigated the pressurei VV e often hear the expressions “ money is plem 


which followed. '’ilerVthen were adequate caus- ty,” and “ money is scarce.” These are but am 
PS for the extraordinary overtrading cf 1836, and oilier way of saying. ” the Banks have expand- 


thosweepin«r revulsion of 1837. Its clTects were pc/ their i-'sues,” and ” tho Banl.s have contract 
immediately seen in the sales of the buhlic ct/ their i..^suc3.” And from the facts 1 have .‘^tat 


immeuiaieiy m — - - , , • 11 

I ands in the increase of importations, and in gen-|ed an important deduction ni.ay be drawn, name 
eral speculation, which extended to esexy coxxn-\yx-That Banks reverse the very purpos, 


Cr3l SneCUIalMMJ, ^ .J /x*i I t 

try vilhiae to every water privilege, and even io fur which their friends say they were createc 
Ihegranfle ledges'of the umuniains. In 1S34|— they expand when they owg/iMo contract ant 


the taks of Pu^^bllc Lands amounted to S(i,099,-Ico/2/rac/ when they ought to expand. Whei 
981- in 18.36 to § 15,999,80.3; in 1836 to §25,- credit is .si rained to its highe.st tension, and mei 
167 833 -in 1837 «//er the panic they were redu-|want money mo>t, they contract ; when crndi 
ced to about £7.000 000; in 1S38 to £3.1 30.828.jis at its lowest minimum, they expand. 1 hi 
The amount of foieign Import.s for the year'coinninnity i.s ground to pieces in Bio operation, 

4^ 


10 


Vievjs respecting the source of value and the 
nature of money, and the effect upon co7i- 
tracis by the expansion and contraction of the mea¬ 
sure of valve. 

The evils of the Banking System of this coun¬ 
try are innumerable, but 1 have time and space 
only to touch upon the most prominent. Over¬ 
trading and consequent revulsion, are not the only 
evils which flow from a currency, that possesses 
such vast powers of expansibility and contractibility. 
Money is the measure of value in the e.xchange 
of commodities. It is the standard by which the 
prices of all other articles are regulated. The 
yardstick and the buslielare used only to measure 
lengrh and (luantity, in the business of exchange. 
Labor is the source of all value. Animal mus¬ 
cles and labor-saving machinery, are the 
only producing powers which are known in 
the world. Labor may be said to be all 
the value that there is in tlio world. No 
thing tliat existsj is valuable except that wbicli is 
produced by labor. Labor produces every article 


Banks expand, and the circulating medium, or 
measure of value, is increased to }| 200 , 000,000 ; 
the prices of things rise in proportion ; wheat is 
now at $2 per bushel ; and A pays his debt 
with fifty bushels, instead of one hundred, as he 
in truth expected and promised, thus making fifty 
bushels of wheal by means of this operation of 
the Banks, while B. loses that quantity. This 
operation of the Banks has the precise effect of 
an ex post facto law,or a law impairing the ob¬ 
ligation of contracts. The effect of it is just this— 
he who contracl.s when the circulation is at its 
minimum, and pays when it is at its maximum, 
reaps the benefit in proportion to the increase of 
ih.e measure of value, while the other parly loses ; 
but he who contracts when the circulation is at 
its maximum, and pays when it is at its miniiiiuin, 
loses money by the operation, while the other 
party gains by it. Paper money, therefore, is an 
unsafe standard of value by which to make conn 
tracts to be performed at a future lime. As has 
been telirewcily said, it is like buying and selling 


of necessity, luxury, or commerce. A thing is with an india rubber 3 aid stick, wliicb to-day is 


worth so much because it has required so much 


labor to produce it. Silver and gold possess in^ 
herent value, only in proportion to llie labor re" 
quired to dig them from the mines. If a bushel 
of corn is worth a silver dollar, it is because it 
has required an amount of labor to produce it, 
equal to the amount required to produce a silver 
dollar. A piece of gold weighing as much as a 
dollar, is woilb fifteen silvtir dollars, because it 
has cost, on account of it rarity', just so much la¬ 
bor and time to produce it as it would to produce 
fifteen silver dollars. Paper money possesses no 
inherent value more than the cost of the paper 
of which it is made, because it has required but 
little Itibor to produce it. Cold and silver liave 
been adopted as the medium of circulation, or the 
measure of value, by all nations, because the 
amount in the world, which is about -1000 mil¬ 
lions, remains nearly stationary ; and therefore, 
it is a permanent mea.sure of value. It cannot 
be greatly increased in amount, nor is it likely to 
be much diminished ; and llierefore, unlike pa¬ 
per money, it possesses but Kttle expayisive and 


eighteen inches long, and to-morrow three feel 


or like a bushel which measures sixteen quarts to¬ 
day, and to-morrow, thirty-two. Would men 
buy cloth, or sell corn, by such measures of length 
and quantity ? Just as absurd is it to make con¬ 
tracts by such a standard of value as paper mon¬ 
ey. I'he value of a paper dollar is as uncertain 
as the Paddy’s flea—when jou put your finger 
upon him he an’t there. 'Phus do the community 
lose millions upon millons by the £a’j)ansio?is and 
contractions of a paper medium. It is one of 
the most enormous evils of a paper system, 
while it is the least understood. By it every 
man's farm. Ids horses, his cattle, every species 
of property he possesses, are afl'ected. No ad¬ 
vantages of the Banking System can compensate 
for this .stupendous evil, and nothii g but u coun¬ 
try rich in all the elements of wealth, and a peo¬ 
ple transcending all others in skill, enterprise and 
energy, could exist and flourish under it. Ad¬ 
ding to the amount of the circulating medium 
does not increase its value. It dilutes it as water 
does alcohol, and deranges the value of the con- 


contractive power. By such a standard of val-!tracts which men make with each other. But it 
ue,it is perfectly safe to make contracts. If speciejcould make no great dillerenco if' it would re- 
were the only medium of circulation, or measure niain stationary, for the prices would ultimately, 
of value, it would he safe to contract at the adjust themselves. But, this is but one of the 
ent, to pay at a. future time ; for a dollar many|iiems in the budget of burdens, wbich the Bank-" 
years hence, would be worth just as much as aq^g System imposes upon the people of this 
dollar is now worth. But, it is not so with « country. 
medium composed of paper. With such a me-} 

dium it would be unsafe to contract a debt at the indirect tax which the People 


present lime, to be paid at a future. To illus- 
tiate this point I will suppose a case :—The pa- 


pay to support the Banking System. 

In addition to the vast amount which the Peo- 


per circulation is now ^ 100 , 000,000 ; wheat is pie lose by the expansions and c'ontraclions of the 
selling at per bushel and other things in pro-jBanks, they pay an enormous tax for the privi~ 
portion. A contracts with B to pay him jfjSlOO in lege of having the fucililies, (more truly evils,) 
wheat two years hence. The consideration of which Banks furnish, as a few facts will aburi-' 
this contract is a fine yoke of oxen valued at $100, dantly prove. On the 1 st of January 1837, the 
for which B expects, and suppose.^ he is to get, amount of Banking Capital said to be “ paid in,'* 
1^00 bushels of wheat. In the meantime the}was over $331,000,000. Supposing that to be 







11 


CouiiUrfiits OH the U. S. BavV. 


all real capital wliicli, if there wtre no Hanks,I 
would be loaned by capitalists, the interest on it' 
at 6 per cent, would he $19,860,000. It appears' 
by the document publislied by order of the Sein 
ate before referred to. that, of the .$331,000,000 
of Banking Capital in the Union on the 1st of 
January 1837, including the United State.s Bank ;! 

S20,.301,550 was vested in real estate ; $12,-1 
407,112 in stocks ; and 814,957,944 in other in-! 
vestments, making an aggregate of 847,666,606. 

On this sum the Banks, like other capitalists, 
would receive 6 per cent, leaving 8283,583,731; 
of capital on which to base their loan? and dis*- 
counts. .At the period named they had made 
loans and discounts on the last named sum, to the 
amount of 8582,509,049, the interest on which, 
at 7 per cent., the Banking rate, amounts to the 
enormous sum of 840,775,563. If the owners 
of the Bank capital not invested in real estate, &c. 

'<]id not possess corporate privileges, they would 
draw interest at si.t per cent, only, on that sum. 
which would amount to 817.015,023. They 
therefore now tax the people'rWENTY^TIlllEE 
.MILLIONS, SEVEN HUNDRED AND SI.X'BY 
THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED AND TEN 
DOLL.ARS in the shape of interest more than 
they could, if they possessed no corporate povv- 

^ nearly equals the revenues of jj. appears that there have been 516 dilTer- 
this Government, and would produce a revolution notes of the Banks of the 

if levied yearly upon the people in the shape of United Slates, which would occasion a yearly 
a direct tax. The pecuniary operations of the loss to the people, of 810.30.3 if one of each kind 
Government sink into insignificance in compari-^-ere passed, and 81,020,300, if 100 of each kind 
Bon with the operations of the Banks. They are were passed. This may fall far below the real 
but a drop in the bucket. I cannot be mistaken , i^fnounl. 

for my calculations are .ill marie from roturiis can bcoblamed mfhont BnnU.-Amm,r.t of 

nrshea by the IJanlts Ihciiiselves. How ,dlo Iheit. Hu productive iudustruoj the comic,j. 

to pretend, that the late measures of the (lovcrn 

merit could affect, to any great extent, this vastl With such tremendous Licts staring them in 
system of monetary operation ! i>^'e can the people doubt respeciing ihe e- 

Losses sustained by the people from the failure e/^'d elfecis ol the Banicing Sy.si.cni ? I am a- 
JJayihs. ware of it.'r seductive influences. 1 know it lures 

But there is another item in the budget of bur-the people from the contemplation of their true 
dens which the peojile bear froin the Bankingluitercsts, with its syren voice and its insinuating 

System, and that is, from the failure of those in-iuppliuuvcs. It furnishe.s them with money, 

stitutions. Since the establishment of the pres-jwhich is deemed the most desirable ol all earth- 
ent con.stitulion of tlie United States, about 200 ,ly possessions. But they can get money with- 
of those corporations have failed, causing llie lossSout Banks. Does any one ask how ? I answer 

■ —LABOR will procure them all the metalic 


Denoml- 

No. of 

Ain’t lost 

Ain’t lost if 

nation of 

conn- 

if one bill 

100 bills are 

Notes. 

terfeits 

only is 

passed. 


upon it. 

passed. 


85’s 

46 

8230 

823,000 

lO’s 

45 

450 

45.000 

20’s 

20 

400 

40,000 

50’s 

3 

150 

15,000 

lOO’s 

13 

1,300 

130,000 

500’s 

2 

1,000 

100,000 

1 

1 

129 

83,530 

8353,000 

1 

State Banks. 


‘ 8l’s 

15 

8150 

81,500 

' 2’s 

18 

30 

3.600 

' 3’s 

14 

42 

4,200 

! 5’s 

186 

930 

93,000 

lO’s 

lOS 

1,080 

108,000 

j 20’s 

41 

820 

82,000 

1 50’s 

21 

1,050 

105,000 

lOO’s 

12 

1,200 

120,000 

! SnO’s 

1 

500 

50.000 

|lU00.s 

1 

1000 

100,000 

1 

1 

4.7 

86,673 

8667,300 


of millions. It was calculated by Sylvester’s 
Reporter, a paper of great accuracy published in 
NewYork.and devoted to Banking concerns, that 
the loss which tlie public suffered by tlie G or S 
Banks vvhich fai!e<l in Boston last, winter, ti- 
mounted to EIGHT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 
The loss which the people have sustained from 


cur¬ 
rency which they need. Labor as I have before 
remarked, is the source of all value. It provides 
for us all the comforts and luxuries of life. It 
builds our houses, our villages, our cities ; it 
constructs our roads, our rail roads, our canals ; 
it builds our ships and produces the cargoes 
which they carry to other climes ; it provide.s 
us all with the lood we eat and the clothes we 


this source must, therelore, be enormous. 

IjOss sustained hy Uie people from counterfeits. 

But there is still another item of loss which wear. It produces every thing that is valuable, 
the public sustains, and that is from counterfeiv^loucy cannot be had unless we have something 
notes. I hav'e taken pains to estimate the num-|to buy money with. Labor will produce that 
her of counterfeits on the Banks of the United sotnelhing, and labor alone can piodiice it. Let 
Stales, and the loss sustainetl, if onlv one notejuslor one moment, stop ami consider, the im- 
of each counterfeit is passed, and also'if 100 arcimen.se amount of value which the productiv* 
passed, vearly. The following table will cxbibit'pf’'ver ot Republic }ields annuallj. Mr 

the result. iEdwaid Everett, in 1830, estimated the whole 










12 


atnount of ihe productive industry of the peopledn coin, some of the most eminent British state.*; • 
of the United Slates, at 1000 millions. By Mr|tnen, (among others the late i\lr Huskisson and 
Niles, late editor of the Register, at the sarnelLord VV’^ellingion,) have declared to be impraeli- 


lime it was estimated at 1066 millions. At the 
present tune JMr Benton, whose industry in the 
collocation, and whose accuracy in the state¬ 
ment,of facts are excelled by no man in this coun¬ 
try, has estimated the value of the Agncvltaral 
inoduction of this country alone at ONE THOU¬ 
SAND MILLIONS. By a statement in the A- 


cable. The second remedy suggested by Adam 
Smith, has been proved by experienee to be loo 
tardy in its operation. The only practical rem¬ 
edy which would approach any where near to a 
perfect one, would be 1st, to provide a consump¬ 
tive circulation of metalic liioney, which can 
be done only by driving bills of a less denomi- 


mcrican Almanac for 1839, it appears that thelnatiori than $2u out of circulation—and that can 
amount produced by mechanic industry in thejbe effected only by legislation—for when a clieap- 
state of Massachusetts for the year ending April er currency is allowed to circulate with a dearer, 
1st 1837, was 1^91,765,215. This of course in-jihe latter becomes an article of merchandize, 
eluded the amount produced by machinery. Mas-jand disappears from general circulation. 2. 


sachusetl.s probably does not contain one six¬ 
teenth part of the population of the Union, It 
cannot therefore be unreasonable to suppose that 
the value of the 3Itchanic labor including ma¬ 
chinery, of this country, cannot be less than 
FIVE HUNDRED MILLIONS, Thus it would 
appear that the whole amount of .’■alue, produc¬ 
ed by the people of this country yearly, cannot 
be much, if any, less than FlFTEEiT HUN¬ 
DRED MILLIONS. It would take but one fif¬ 
teenth of this vast production, to furnish the peo¬ 
ple with lOU millions of gold and silver ; and 
less than one seventh would give them 200 mill¬ 
ions. It is not, therefore, an undertaking so 
difiicult as many imagine, for the people of the 
United States to furnish themselves with a cir¬ 
culating medium, which shall be entirely com¬ 
posed of the precious metals. And here 1 do not 
hesitate to say, that lam opposed in principle to 
the present Banking System with its accumula¬ 
ted host of evils, and its mammoth load of dark 
and heinous sins, but I am not opposed to a sys, 
tein established upony«s? and principles. 


The Banks should be required to redeem their 
notes in coin when presented ; and 3d. if they 
failed to do that, they should become .subject to 
a bankrupt law, (as suggested by Mr Van Bti- 
ren in his message at the Extra Session,) and 
their affairs should be closed up immediately. 
Such checks and penalties would produce all 
the restraint upon them, which could be produ¬ 
ced 5 and wfilh the antagonist action of the Gov¬ 
ernment Treasury, which recognized in its oper¬ 
ations no other medium but gold and silver, the 
Banks might be kept within due bounds, and be¬ 
come safe and salutary instruments of trade, in¬ 
stead ot remaining as they are, mischievous and 
dangerous engines \vhose rampant power is as 
potent and irresistible as the earthqualte, and as 
destructive and desolating in its explosions.— 
Most truly, as I before remarked, is the Banking 
System of this country as at present constituted^ a 
stupendous ^‘PRIVILEGED FRAUD.” And 
what renders it more atrocious, its expenses, and 
its evil effects, are all borne and felt, by the la¬ 
boring and producing classes of the people. La- 

^ 7 • r. , ,7 7 - bor pays the enormous tax it levies in the form 

Can the present Bariling System he rendered safer the currenc\’the rents. 


than it nom is ? 

But il the present system is entailed upon the 
country beyond the hope of redemption, it sliould 
be so restrained and regulated, as to deprive it 
of its power to do mischief as much as possible, 
and every effort should be made to increase its 
power to do good. What measures of restraint 
and regulation should be adopted, has troubled 
the w'isest heads. Adam Smith, a celebrated 
•writer on Political Economy, in his “ Wealth of 
Nations,” expresses it as his belief, that a paper 
currency system w'ould be safe, if Banks, first 
were allowed to issue no more paper than an 
amount equal to the sum of metalic money 
which would circulate, if there was no paper. 

2. The unconditional redemption of their notes 
by the Banks in specie. 3. Thai the consump¬ 
tive circulation, or that in general use by ilie 
people, should be specie. The experience of ev 
ery country where the paper system has been 
tried, has proved the tw’o first remedies to be 
fallacious, and the last only effectual so far it ferers from that source^ for not being[so well ac- 
goes. It is impossible to prevent Banks from qttainted with the character of paper money as 
exceeding the due proporiion of issues as com-jthe trading classes, they are the last to discover 
pared wiih the currency of other nations; andi^ffe cheat, and therefore are compelled to bear 
the plan of requiringthem to redeem their notes nearly the whole of ihe evil. “ 


the provisions, and the clothing of the poor man, 
are the first to feel the effects, and rise in price ; 
and his own labor, the last. If it contracts, as 
capitalists and employers are stopped in their 
operations, the laborer is thrown out of employ¬ 
ment, and his only source of wealth and suste¬ 
nance, which is his own labor, is the first to fall. 
During the first of these effects the poor man 
wonders why his labor, which before produced 
him two barrels of flour a week, now produces 
but one. When the last is felt, he is equally 
surprised that his labor will produce him noth¬ 
ing. If he would look into the cau.ses, he would 
find the author of his misfortunes and calamities, 
to be PAPER MONEY. If a Bank fails and 
throws a loss upon the community, labor sus¬ 
tains that. The knowing ones anticipate the 
event and prepare for it, and the loss falls upon 
the honest and unsuspecting farmer, mechanic, 
and laborer. If counterfeits are issued, the la¬ 
boring and industrious cla.sses are the chief suf- 








13 


Opinion of Daniel Webster respecting a paper cur with exchanges when they attempt to 

renry. {regulate them. When every thing is prosper- 

Many distinguished men in England and this|ous they can deal in, that is. ‘‘regulate” exchan- 
country, have spoken and written, well and tru-^ges as well as any body. But when trade be- 
ly, upon this subject; but none more truly, and comes deranged by the unnatural accumulation 
more emphatically, than the Hon. Daniel \Veb-{of large balances at different point.s, then exchau- 
ster. In a speech delivered in Congress in 1832,'ge.s become deranged, and and the derangement 
Daniel Webster said :— aggravated by the action of the Banks ; because. 


“ or all the contrivances for CHEATING the'^'y doing that business in favoralDle times, the 
laboring class of mankind, none have been habit ol relying upon 

effectual than that which DELUDES them with the Banks lor that species ot accommodation ; 
paper money. THIS IS THE MOST EFFEC-'^nd when they reluse, disorder immediately en- 
TUAL OF INVENTIONS TO FERTILIZE; exchanges rise, and the M-hole is charged 
THE RICH MAN’S FIELD BY THE SWEATd" pack-horse ot sin, the Government. 

OF THE POOR MAN’S BROW. Ordinary ty-;A/ew facts, the best weapons which I can use, 
ranny, oppression, exce.ssive taxation,//lese will inconirovertibly prove this po.siiion. But, 
lightly on the happiness of the mass of the coin-hti first place, it will be proper to enquire iii- 
munity, compared with FRAUDULENT CUR-^^ »,de nature ot true and legiiiinate e.xchange ; 
RENCIES, and THE ROBBERIES COMMIT- and we shall find that it is not a thing so very 
TED BY A DEPRECIATED PAPER. Oi 4 /-;dd^^cull to comprehend as many imagine. In 
own history hdiS recorded for our instruction e ^^amiercia! signification, it is simply the dif- 
nough, and more than enough, of the DEMOrvi^^''^a'^‘^ value between cash funds in one 
ALIZING TENDENCY, the INJUSTICE and|<^‘-'a“">h aad cash luiuis in another; or between 
INTOLERABLE OPPRESSION, on the virtn-;cash tundsin one place, and cash funds in an- 
ous and well disposed, of a DEGRADED PA-i^^^ier in the same country; and that difference 
PER CURRENCY, AUTHORIZED BY LAW,,'s, "lien exchange is regulated only by the ope- 
OR IN ANY WAY COUNTENANCED BY!‘'ai‘ons ol trade, its only real and natural regu- 
GOVERNMENT ” jlator, simply the cost and ri.'ik of transporting cash 

. funds from one country to another-, or from one 

Thus spake the godlike ’ Daniel in 183-, and to another in the same country. For instance, 
never was a heathen god more oracular, nor ev-^ regular difl'erence of exchange between New 
er uttered truer responses. It Mr M ebster had ^ork and London, is from 7 to 9 per cent.— 
carried out in practice the doctrine he preached,, a' residing in New York, owes 

had he ever lived up to the principles he pro-j p residing in London, it would cost him 
mulgated in the extract I have made from fin's p^y jn ]Vew York, because the transpor- 
speech in 1832, he would have been the idol of - - . 

the American people, and risen to the highest 

honors of the Republic. But, with such eloquent _ __ _ 

' words ot truth clear as sunlight, he has descend-I^g^y York and London. The same remark is 
ed from the high sphere in which his superior ^^^^jjange between New York and New 

intellect fitted him to move and shine, and Orleans, or between any other given points, 

sented to become the mere attorney, retainer and ^l^g j-aje of exchange varying according to the 

pensioner of the very corporations he denounced.of transportation, and the risk of transmit- 
What perversion, what degradation ot the noble pog specie. The operation between New Y'ork 


tation and insurance on $100 in specie Ifom 
New Y^ork to London, is worth $9, and thus S9 
IS called the difference of exchange between 


attributes of intellect! 


iaiid London is this :—C. has funds in London. 


Facts and conclusions in relation to Exchanges, For- ^- residing in New Y^ork, owes B. residing in 

{London, and, in order to pay him has got to 
o . jseiid the specie, or get somebody who has cash 

w,ih the Ban nng System a.eenains 

at deal IS said about c. has it. He eoes to liiin and pays him 


eign and Domestic. 

Closely connected 
Exchanges. A great 


ges which is just as pregnant of ignorance as ,^(j a $100, to pay his debt in London, which 
devoid ot truth. Banks are called the . would beju.-st the cost of getting thespecie there. 

tors" ot eichanses, and the U. S. Bank the «,<■/ ^ London, and A. 

Kegulator:’ But Batiks are >u act the d.stur- 


bers of exchanges, and the U. S. Bank the great 
est of the disturbers. A little analysis will prove 
the truth of this proposition. I\Iy reasoning on 
this subject will, as the logicians say, be a pos¬ 
teriori, i. e. reasoning from efl'ects back to caus¬ 
es. 1 know of no other way to dii.cover causes, 
but to search for them, in the efl’ects which they 
produce. When business of all kinds is pros¬ 
perous, and there is great demand upon the 
Banks for accommodations and none for specie, 
they go along swimmingly. But when a “pinch'' 
comes, they can no longer accommodate bor¬ 
rowers, but in fact they distress them, by com- 


pays Ills ueDt there, wiinout tne transportation 
of a single dollar either way, and no other trou¬ 
ble except drawing and transmitting a Bill of 
Exchange, which is a simple request by C. lo 
his Banker in London, to pay A. or his order, 
who endorses it to B., who calls upon C’s Ban¬ 
ker, gets the money and thus the debt is paid. 
But if no body can be found who has cash in 
London, or its equivalent, credit, specie must 
be transported. 

The trade between two nations is, in sub- 
.Ntance, like a leger account between two indi¬ 
viduals. One man sells articles to another, and 


pelling them to pay what they have borrowed, purchases articles which the latter produces. - 





14 


The)' keep an account of their trade, and when 
the end of (he year comes, they cast up the debt 
and credit sides of their legers, and the balance 
on which ever side it is found, must be paul in 
cash, if the one to whom it is due will not take 
something else in lieu of it. Such would be 
the course of both foreign and inland exchange, 
if all countries had a uniform and permanent 
medium, or measure of value, like gold and sil¬ 
ver. But that is not the case, and the derange- 
vient of the currency, or alttration of its relative 
value betrveen two countries, or two places, deranges 
the exchanges. And as Banks furnish paper mo¬ 
ney, thus diluting and depreciating the circulat¬ 
ing medium, and causing this derangement, 
they are the authors of all the disorders which 


ensue. I will appeal to facts for the truth oimoney. But vhen the Banks resumed, exchang 
what I say, and if there be anyone who doubts, 

I would refer him to a very valuable document 
published by order ol the U. S. Senate at the 
last session, containing the prices ot exchanges, 
and the value of paper money and specie in the 
markets of Philadelphia and New York, from 
1814 to May 1838, which contains an immense 
mass of facts, that bear with irresistible force 
upon this very point. I will take the prices of 
exchange during the late suspension of specie 
payments, to illustrate my views. At such pe¬ 
riods, specie, after struggling a long time to keep 
up the value of paper without success, disunites 
from it, ceases to be currency, and becomes an 
article of merchandize. In June 1837, foreign 
exchange, instead of being from 7 to 9 per cent. 


payments, and the consequent depreciation of pa- 
per money. The difference of exchange between 
New York and the places named, was just the 
amount of the depreciation of paper issued at 
those places in the New York market. It took 
just S103 in the paper of the Boston Banks, to 
buy $100 of the paper of the New York Banks, 
for that was the par standard of value then and 
not specie, the latter being worth ten per cent, 
more than New York paper, and consequently, 
it would have taken $113 of Boston paper to 
purchase 8100 in gold in New York. At the 
same time it took $112 in 
to pay $100 in New York. 
the increase of the price nf 
in a reverse ratio, viith the 


New Orleans paper. 
It wdll be seen that 
exchange, kept pace 
depreciation of paper 


es w'ere improved ; and at this period withoutxhe 
aid of the “ Great Regulator,’' they are lower 
than they have ever been before. Exchange 
between New York and Boston is now at the 
nominal rate of ^ of one per cent; between New 
York and New Orleans 1^ per cent.; between 
New York and Mississippi it is still high, be¬ 
cause the Banks of that State have not resumed, 
and the value of their paper consequently is be¬ 
low the specie standard. By recurring back to 
1816—17, during the war suspension, the same 
phenomena in the exchanges and currency pre¬ 
sented themselves. Thus do facts irrefragably 
establish the truth of the position,t/mf Banks are 
the DISTURBERS, and not the REGULAT¬ 
ORS, of Exchanges. There is no other real and 


above par, its legitimate rate, rose to 20 perjsafe regulator of exchange, except the natural 
cent, in the markets ot Rhiladelphia and New and irresistible laws of trade. And all efforts 
York. Now what occasioned this great rise in|to improve those laws are just as puny and ab- 

surd. as it would be for man to invent a machine 
in order to aid the Supreme Being in regulating 


exchange ? 


1 liven- 


Facts give the answer. It was be¬ 
cause PAPER MONEY had depreciated in value by 

censing to be convertible into specie, and it tookjthe movements of the Universe. Such 
110 or 113 paper dollars to buy 8100 in spe-|tions derange the natural laws, produce confii- 
cie in New York, or 120 paper dollars in New sion, and always return to plague the inventor. 
York to buy $100 in specie in London. ThelThe laws which Providence has imposed upon 
tables quote American gold at a premium of|the physical, moral, and social world, are fixed 
8110 and $113 ; that is to say, it took 8110 injand immutable, and cannot be violated by men, 
paper to buy $100 in gold in New York. Thisjwithout the certainty of incurring a penalty or 
circumstance led to the remark “ that speciepunishment, commensurate with the extent 
risen,^'when paper had depreciated, from'of the violation. But, on this doctrine of Ex- 

len to thirteen per cent. Specie never rises nor,changes hang all the law and the prophets,” & 
falls in value. It is the paper which, like alljthe Banks too ; & particularly the U. S. Bank.— 

For the friends of that institution have urged as 
their great argument, that it was necessary to 
regulate the currency and exchanges. And as 
a consequence of its absence, or non-existence, 
they have predicted repeated disorder and de¬ 
rangement. They could with more safety have 
predicted such effects during its existence, lor. 


other articles is measured by specie, that rises 
and falls, and this change in value is produced by 
its abundance or .scarcity. Thus by the action 
of the Banks, —by suspending specie payments 
and thus depreciating their own currency — the 
Foreign Exchanges were disordered. The same 
effect produced by the same cause 


was more 

strikingly visible in the Domestic Exchanges ofjas we have seen^ it is one oflhe direct'producing 
the country. At one period during the suspen-causes of derangement and disorder in the cur- 
sion, as appears by the Document before refer-jrency and exchanges. But I will extend my 
^d to,the price of exchange between N .York andjpredictions farther. I will prophecy derangement 
Bo.ston was 3 per cent., between New York andjin the currency and exchanges, just as long as 
rhiladelphia about the same, between Newjour rotten, fraudulent system of Banking and 
York and New Orleans 12 per cent., between,currency exists in its present form. But it should 
New and Mississippi 30 per cent., and so,be remembered that the federal party charge all 
on. Now vhv was this s'reat difipi-pncp ? /fjthe evils produced by the Banking System, to 


why was this great difference ? 
was in consequence of the suspension of specAc\[he Government 


You all doubtless recollect 






that the Jews had, in olden times, a ic^rpe-jaristocracy of any kind, our antl-demucrutic Ujr- 
goad' for iheir sins and iniquities; the panicja7at/o7t has created an aristocracy in the very 
umnutacturers and distress-makers of modern midst of us. It is .seated in every considerable 
times must also have a scape-goat for their faultsjvillage ; it is perched upon every water-fall. Its 
and misfortunes, and the poor Government is|sociai influence is felt in the difl’erent castes 
just the animal to answer their purpose. Butjwhich it establishes in every considerable village, 


when we look into the causes of 
of which our opponents complain, 


the evils;and its political power is alarmingly 
how piti-'the elections. From these general 


visible in 
remarks I 


able does their ignorance appear; or how grossjwould not be understood as being opposed to 
their deception, and how reckless their knavery !,corporations of erer^ description. i\lany of them 

I will here briefly consider the political and 
moral eflTects which corporations generally pro¬ 
duce in a community. 

Corporations create a Monied .‘iristocracy. 

They create a monied aristocracy, which, be¬ 
ing the most sordid and soulless, and possessing 
nothing to ennoble and elevate its members, ei¬ 
ther morally or intellectually it is the meanest, 
most contemptible, most grii 
pressive, of all the species ot aristocracy which 
ever cursed a nation. In this country as in Eng¬ 
land, the corporation system is the very seat and 
citadel of aristocratic and federal power. The 
Edinburgh Review, in speaking of the whig par¬ 
ty of England, most truly says :— The strength 
of the whigs lays in the, great Aristocracy, in the 
CORPORATIONS, and in the TRADING or 
MONIED INTERESTS.” Is not the remark- 
true of the “Whig” party of this country? Doe.- 
not their strength lay in the CORPORATIONS, 
and the TRADING and MONIED INTER 
ESTS.? Are not Xhe Banks, \.he merchants, the 
mayiufactiirers, the capitalists, with lew excep¬ 
tions, on the side of the “ whig” or federal party 
of this country? It cannot be denied. Rut 1 
will return to a consideration of the political and 
moral eliects of corporations. And first as to 
their political eftects :—In this country we have 


may be of a very useful character. My purpose 
is to show that they are a violation of the Deiio- 
cRATic Principle, and the benefits resulting from 
them, ought to be equal to the sacrifice of prin¬ 
ciple which a democratic community makes in 
creating them. 

Deleterious influence of Corporations upon elec¬ 
tions. 

The moral effects of corporations are more 
deleterious; and of Ranking corporations inoie 
than all others. Corporations in this country, 
are like the old feudal barons of England. Like 
them thev have their hordes of retainers, vas¬ 
sals, and dependants about them, bound to them 
by the strongest ties of interest, and obliged to 
fight their battles and sustain their power. The 
manufacturing corporations of this country have 
\\\t\V stockholders, agents, clerks and operatices; 
the Banking corporations their stockholders, di¬ 
rectors, cashiers, clerks and debtors ; constituting 
altogether an immense army, whose power is di¬ 
rectly felt at the Ballot Box, and always in op¬ 
position to the party supporting the Democratic 
policy in the Governmeni of the country. We 
have'only to refer to the election of !March last 
in this slate, for examples to illustrate this re¬ 
mark. Every village in this state with, I ht*- 
lieve, but two exceptions, in which a Bank, or a 
3 Ianufjciuringcorporation of much capital and 

the 
ith 

-,,, ^ ., 

_ I few excepiiom 

through the power 
the effect which they 


not, indeed, a privileged order, recognized by^ gave majorities against the 

constitution and laws an aristocrary of while the agricultural towns, with 

blood and hereditary titles. The genius of onrjf-^^^, j)g^,j^ocraiic. The iinmor- 

instiiutions is against the existence of such a po\v-,,^j influence which they exert through the power 
er in the State. But we have what is^ worse, they possess,is seen in the effect which they 

Monied Aristocracy, withoni titles, noble dependant voter, 

and the elevating recollections ot the deed.s ol:„nU^cing him through his ncce.ssities, to violate 
illustrious ancestors, and to a great extent, 'viih-ij^j^ conscience in supporting a policy of which 


,7 , . .i.o conscience in supporting 

out.commanding intellect, to dignily and snslaiii i j ^ approve 

it. And this aristocracy is built upon the ro/710-* 
ration system of this country. In order to sus 
lain the aristocracy in England, the law of pri-| 
mogeiiitnre, which gives the estate to the oklc.^^tl 


'.Corrupting and demoralizing influence of Cor¬ 
porations upon the Bur and the Press, 

An equally dangerous influence, if not a more 


male heir, leaving the younger male and ihejilangerons one,is brought to bear upon the inor- 
female branches to look out for themselves, has als and gove.'-nmental policy of the country, by 
been adopted. By the operation of this law, ini-corporations through iheir connection with the 


niense estates are accumulated N: perpetuated in 
the same family, from generation to generation. 

The corporation system of this country has pre¬ 
cisely the same effect. By the aid of acts of incor¬ 
poration large masses of property are concentra-; 
led in one, and kept in that form from successor 
to successor, and probably will be, as time elaps¬ 
es, from age to age. “Money is power,” and its 
power increases ill proportion to the mass. Thus, 
while oiir insiitulioTis repudiate the idea ol anjlu 1833, to fifty three incmbcrjt 


legal profession, and by subsidizing Uie press. 
To establish this position we again have the ir¬ 
resistible “ logic of facts and figures.” The ex¬ 
ample of the U. S. Bank is sufficient for my pur¬ 
pose. That corporation, as appears by public 
Documents, loaned 
In 1830, to fifty members of Congress 
In 1831 to fifty nine members 
In 1832, to forty four members 


8192,101 

322,195 

478.706 

374.706 






IC 


In 1834, to fifty two members 238,586 

It paid in fees and loans to lawyers as follows.— 
To Mr Clay S40,000 

To Mr Webster 58,000 

To Mr Sargeant 30,000 

To Mr Johnston 36,000 

To Mr Poindexter 10,000 

To the editors ot Newspapers it paid as follows— 
To Webb and Noah 852,000 

To Jasper Harding 31,910 

To Gales & Seaton 52,370 

To Robert Walsh 6,541 

To-Wilson 2,027 


The above are the operations of a single corpo¬ 
ration. All have an immense patronage to be¬ 
stow' upon the Bar and upon the Pres.s, in the 
shape of fees, subscriptions to newspapers, ad¬ 
vertisements, and printing. This description of 
influence is vastly augmented by the Mercan¬ 
tile class, who are politically connected with the 
corporation interests. In the facts I have sta¬ 
ted, may be found one of the reasons w'hy so 
large a proportion of the Lawyers and the pub¬ 
lic presses, are found arrayed on the side of the 
Money Power. Thus does the Moneyed Influ¬ 
ence of this country enter into, poison, and cor¬ 
rupt, the very sources of public intelligence, and 
the fountains of Legislation. A calm contem¬ 
plation of the extent and vastness of this corrup¬ 
ting and demoralizing pow'er, is enough to fill 
the heart of the patriot with fear and alarm.— 
Nothing can,-nothing will save this republic 
from the fate which has befallen all others, ex¬ 
cept the virtue and intelligence of the agricultu¬ 
ral and laboring portions of our countrymen, 
Concc7it"ated and trcmxndoiis means, wielded 
by the Moncjj Power. 

To demonstrate to the mind as clear as the 
light of the sun, the vastness and the potency 
of this tremendous and corrupting influence, we 
have again only to appeal to facts and figures. 
The Banking capital of this country amounts, 
in round numbers, to THREE HUNDRED 
AND THIRTY ONE MILLIONS OF DOL¬ 
LARS. In this sum the Stock holders ofBank.s 
are interested, and of course, influenced by it. 
In their corporate form, they derive great advan¬ 
tage from it, which they could not derive in any 
other way. They will, therefore, exert every 
power to retain the privileges which they possess. 
The aggregate amount of the loans and dis¬ 
counts of the Banks in the United Stales, in Dec. 
1837, as appears by the report of the Secreta¬ 
ry of the Treasury, w'as in round numbers FIVE 
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE MIL¬ 
LIONS. This vast sum creates another im¬ 
mense army of Bank dependants in the shape of 
Debtors, who are more completely within the 
power of those institutions, than any other class. 
It IS a maxim the world all over, that “the bor- 
row’er is the servant of the lender.” It can, 
therefore, be readily imagined what a vast num¬ 
ber of ^‘servants'' such an immense sum will at¬ 
tach to the Bank service. The amount of the 
Deposites in the Banks at the time last mention¬ 


ed, was, in round numbers, ONE HUNDRED 
AND TWENTY-SEVEN MILLIONS. This 
sum creates another re.‘»pectable brigade of Bank 
adherents in the shape of Depositors. The 
manufacturing interests wneld a capital of ONE 
HUNDRED MILLIONS, and they furnish their 
quota of troops for the service of the Money Pow¬ 
er. The mercantile interests wield a capital of 
at least TWO HUNDRED MILLIONS, and 
they turn in their horde of myrmidons in the 
shape ot Clerks, Debtors, and Dependants. Thus 
the concentrated power of TWELVE HUN¬ 
DRED AND EIGHTY-THREE MILLIONS 
OF DOLLARS, is brought to bear upon the pol¬ 
itics and morals of this republic, and against the 
Democracy. Its immensity is enough to as¬ 
tound us, and fill us with dismay. But to coun¬ 
terbalance, in part, its influence, we have the ag¬ 
gregate capital ot the agricultural interests still 
greater, but not so concentrated and powerful, 
with its annual production of a THOUSAND 
MILLIONS. And besides, we h.ave ihe^tout 
arms and patriotic hearts, of a virtuous, intelli¬ 
gent, and incorruptible yeomanry. 

Effects of the corporation system in England. 

The operation of the corporation system in 
England, has produced the most deleterious and 
melancholy efiects upon the mass of the people. 
While it has enriched the Few enormously,it has 
impoverished XheMany, and reduced them to the 
lowest state of degradation. It has had a palpa¬ 
bly direct tendency “ to make the rich richer and 
the potent more powertul while it has eflfectu- 
ally robbed the operative, or producer, of the 
scanty pittance earned by his su'eat and toils. 
Through the instrumentality of this policy, 
ichite slavery exists in England in more hideous 
add revolting forms, than black slavery in this 
country. WHiilst in that country, the poor oper¬ 
ative is free in theory, in truth he is one of the 
most abject of slaves. He is enslaved by the 
irresistible and inexorable necessity of circum¬ 
stances,which dooms him to the most cheerless & 
hopeless servitude, to starvation wretchedness. 
And what makes his fate more aggravating, is, 
that it is the result of a cruel, heartless, and atro¬ 
cious system of legislation, which professes to 
consult his best interests while it wrenches his 
scanty earnings from his grasp, to give to him 
•who does not earn. It is staled in “ Marshall’s 
statistics of the British Empire,” that, on inves¬ 
tigation it has been ascertained, that in England. 
Wales, Scotland and Ireland, there are two hun¬ 
dred and seventy-five thousand nine hundred 
and four persons, who are supported without la¬ 
bor, and in v'ealth and luxury, by the corpora¬ 
tion and credit .systems of England ; and that 
nearly one hundred human beings have been 
brought down to a state of permanent servitude, 
in order to maintain each of these unproductive 
consumers in affluence and splendor.” [See 
Democratic Review for Nov. 1838, p. 199. 

Jefferson's opinion of Banks. 

I will conclude my remarks upon the natqre, 
effects, and influence, of corporations, with a 





17 


short exlracl from the writings of the immortal 
Jefferson. His words were indeed prophetic, but 
time has transformed them into history. He 
says : 

“ In copying England, we do not seem to con¬ 
sider that like premises induce like consequen¬ 
ces; The bank mania is one of the most threat¬ 
ening of these institutions. It is raising tip a 
MO.XEYtW JlRISTOCRACY in our country 
which has already set the Government at defiance 
and although forced to yield a little on the first 
essay of their stretigth, their principles are un¬ 
yielded and unyielding. They have taken deep 
root in the hearts of that class from xchich our 
legislators are drawn, and the sop to Cerberus, 
from fable, has become history. Their princi¬ 
ples take hold of the good, their pelf of the had, 
and thus those whom the constitution has placed 
as guards to its portals, are sophisticated or sub¬ 
orned from their duties. That paper money has 
some advantages must be admitted, but its abu¬ 
ses are also inveterate, and that it, by breaking 
up the measure of value, makes a lottery of all 
private property, cannot be denied. Shall we 
ever be able to put a constitutional veto upon it?” 

Subject well understood by the People. 

It may be said that the subjects of which I 
have been treating, and particularly, the subjects 
of currency and exchange, are too profound for 
the common mind to comprehend. There is not, 
however, so much difference in the intellectual 
powers of men as many are apt to imagine. All 
elementary axioms, or first principles of philos¬ 
ophy, are plain and simple indeed, to the 
common mind, they are self-evident. Truth 
stript of its disguises, is always simple, and ad¬ 
dresses itself as powerfully to the unlearned, as 
the learned,mind. Truth in the end will triumph 
over error. I cling to this truism as the cynosure 
of hope—the star of promise—shining bright and 
clear above the darkness of the storm, and pene¬ 
trating and dispelling with its powerful rays, the 
clouds and mists of contention, doubt and error. 
Absurd pretensions in favor of Paper Money by its 
friends. 

It has been urged by the friends of the Bank¬ 
ing system in this country, that it was one of the 
most valuable inventions of an improving age ; 
that it is the promoter of civilization, and the 
handmaid of wealth and prosperity. These po¬ 
sitions the enlightened democrat will deny in toto- 
Other countries have become enlightened, refin¬ 
ed, and wealthy, without the aid of paper mon¬ 
ey Banks. The Athenians were as refined a 
people as the sun ever shone upon. And Ath¬ 
ens, Rome, and Carthage, became rich and pow¬ 
erful, without the aid of Banks of circulation.— 
So did the Italian Republics of the middle ages, 
the Hanseatic Towns, Switzerland and Holland. 
Nor have they been troubled with the periodical 
panics which have afliicted paper money coun¬ 
tries. Holland is probably the richest country 
on the Globe in proportion to its size and popu¬ 
lation, and it has become so without the aid of 
paper money. France is one of the richest and 


most powerful kingdoms of Europe, and has, by 
providing specie for her entire consumptive circu¬ 
lation, relieved herself, in a great measure, from 
the evils of a paper system. Russia, Denmark, 
Austria, and England, have all, at some period, 
adopted a paper medium, and all have suffered 
more or less from its evils. It is not, therefore, 
true, that a paper currency', or credit system, as 
its advocates dignify it, is the promoter of civil¬ 
ization, wealth, and refinement ; and that Banks 
are the dispensers of life, light, and liberty to a 
benighted people,—as has been assumed by their 
friends and supporters. 

Causes of the prosperity of the country not Paper 
Money. 

The causes of the extraordinary prosperity of 
this Republic, are to be found not in its paper 
system, but in its variety of soil and climate ; 
in its people deriving their descent from the Sax¬ 
on race ; and above all, in its free institutions, 
which protect all, and call forth all the physical, 
intellectual, and moral energies of the people. 

The Working or Producing classes—General Ed¬ 
ucation. 

The most valuable, the most profitable, and 
most virtuous portion of the People of any coun¬ 
try, is that which is composed of the agricultur¬ 
al and laboring classes. A virtuous and inde¬ 
pendent yeomanry is the richest boast which any 
country can make. They have ever proved 
themselves to be the true friends, and the real 
conservators, ot liberty. But neither they, nor 
the mechanic classes, have ever had that weight 
and influence in the legislation of the country, to 
which their numbers and their aggregate wealth 
and importance, entitle them. They furnish by 
their labor, all the necessaries & comforts of life, 
and the aliment of commerce. They are the 
great producing classes ot society. When the 
farmer has produced by his labor, always with 
the blessings of Providence, a bushel of wheat, 
a fleece of wool, or a bale of cotton, he has ad¬ 
ded so much to the real wealth of the world. 
When the mechanic or artizan takes that wool, 
or that cotton, and fabricates it into cloth, he has 
added as much more to the real wealth of the 
world as the amount of his labor. But the law¬ 
yer, the physician, the clergyman, the Bank 
clerk, and the vast host who raise nothing and 
make nothing possessing intrinsic value, add 
nothing to the aggregate wealth of the com muni- 
l 3 ^ Some of the classes named are necessary 
in every community, but they live upon the 
production of labor. Many of them acquire im¬ 
mense wealth, while the farmer, mechanic, and 
laborer, who produce all, get rich but slowly, if 
at all. How does it happen that he who creates 
wealth by his toil, does not enjoy as much of the 
production of his labor, as he who creates none? 
The answer is to be found in part in the partial & 
unequal system of legislation which has been tol¬ 
erated in the community.If the producing classes 
had acquainted themselves with the first princi- 
pies of Political Economy,if they had investigate! 

2 





18 


the laws of prod action,they would never have con 


seated to a vicious, corrupt and partial, system 
of legislation,—a system which robs them of 

thcir'h ird earnings as eireclually as though thei; vond the limits I aesi;; 
money 

fr.'.obuoter’s pi; 

]t in t’ie lliorouoJi, a/id ^cne^'nl cditraHon of lh: 
proditcb'S' rlasst^. That eciUration should compre¬ 
hend the lirsi r.rinciples of Political Economy 
and of Legislation. It has been truly said that 
Money is Power.” It is so indeed, and it is a 
power antagonist to liberty, and to free insti¬ 
tutions. But, KNOWLEDGE is a greater power, and 
in that power lays the very existence of freedom 
and republicanism. Education,” says a dis¬ 
tinguished British statesman,* “ is the cheap de 


py, he has the best claim to the admiration and 


gratitude of his fellow beings. 

I have already extended my remarks far be- 


lesi' ned at the outset, and T 
were demamh d under the terrors ofth ',T-ar, tin d beyond endurance the patience ot 
)1. \ :wre the’ ’s the remedy hthose who hear me. I c-annot, however, close 

witliout a parting glance at one or two of the 
subjects, now under discussion, by the two par¬ 
ties into which this country is divided. 

Expenditures of the Government. 

The great topics of clamor by the Opposition 
at the present time, are the Expenditures of the 
Governmeiit, & the Independent Treasury scheme. 
The organs and orators of that party, do indeed 
deal in considerable general declamation about 
the tyranny, corruption and wickedness, of the 


fence of nations.” Can. then any sacrifice be too Government ; but when sifted and analyzed, it 
immense to diffuse among the masses,so great a means nothing. The two most prominent and 


blesMng ? Is it possible that any community 
of freemen, would refuse to lax themselves lib¬ 
erally, to promote an object so glorious, so 
praiseworthy, so important 1 But money raised 
for F!-,: h a purpose is not lost. The same writer 


most plausible charges, are the expenditures of 
the Government, and the “ odious Sub-Treasu¬ 
ry.” With regard to the expenses of the Gov¬ 
ernment every reasonable man would of course 
suppose, that, as the country advances in years. 


most beautifully adds—Taxes for the supporijand in-wcailh and population, the expenditures 
of education, are like vapors, which rise only to of the Government must necessarily increase. 

We must have more members of Congress, and 


clerks, to pay at home, and more ministers, con¬ 
suls, &c. abroad. We must send more ships to 
sea to protect our commerce, and have more sol¬ 
diers at home to guard our frontiers, as the 
wave of population rolls onward. These would 
necessarily increase the expenditures of the 
Government. But, it is a fact which I will not 


descend again to fertilize the earth.” Educa¬ 
tion is the only means by which the working 
classes can gain that intellectual, moral, and po¬ 
litical influence and power in society and in Leg¬ 
islation, to which their numbers and importance 
give them just claim. Man without education, 
like the unthinking brute, is governed by im¬ 
pulse and passion ; but educated, reason asserts 
her power, and controls and regulates passion.lattempt to disguise, that the expenses of the 
Intellect will ever assert its supremacy over|Government have been very great ; yet it is 
mere physical force. The great mass of men jequally as true, that the Administration has ex- 
should be set to thinking and reflecting. I care;erted all its influence to prevent the increase of 
not what lashes the vast ocean of mind intojunnecessary expenditures. There are two cau- 
commotion. It may even be error and false-ises which will account for the increase, viz : 1st, 
boo'd. In the end it is sure to work itself clear.lexlraordinary circumstances in the external and 
Then the tempest ceases its raging, the wavesjinternal affairs of the country, requiring extra¬ 
subside, truth triumphs, and sheds its radiant ordinary expenditure ; and, 2d, the uniform and 
beams over the peaceful and silent waters. persevering efforts of the federal party in Con- 

The Intellect of the country is with the Democracy, gress, to increase the public expenses, in order 


The Intellect of the country is with the De¬ 
mocracy. The most illustrious names in the 
Republic of letters are to be found arrayed on 
the side of the Democratic Principle. The 
commonwealth of letters is in truth founded up¬ 
on that principle. In the Literary Republic no 
iUie, rich o.»’ poor, noble or ignoble, bond or free, 
rises permanently to distinction, except upon 
real merit. There is no just distinction except that 
which nature has created. Intellectual pre-emin- 
once is the true nobility. Men instinctively 
W’orship intellect, and the homage is as justly 
due, as it is cheerfully rendered. It comes alike 
f.rom the monarch and the serf, the patrician 
Midthe plebean. Superior talent is but superi- 
: 'illumination from the Source whence all mind 
manates, and he who possesses it possesses the 
Vest patent of nobility ; and if he uses it in the 
;^;reat and holy cause of liberty and philanthro 


to create a pretext for clamoring against the Gov¬ 
ernment for its prodigality. Well authenticated 
facts establish the truth of what I say. 

During the four years of Mr Adams’ 
Administration the aggregate ex¬ 
penditures of the Go vernment were f52,535,994 
Average annual expenditure 13,133,998. 

During the four first years of Gen. 

Jackson’s Administration the ag¬ 
gregate expenditures were $53,050,000 

Average annual expenditure 13,262,500. 

During the six subsequent years the 
aggre'gate expenditure was $145,203,419 

Average annual expenditure 24,200,569. 

Take from this last sum, the average 
annual expenditure under Mr Ad¬ 
ams 13,133,998 


And it will leave a yearly excess of 10,866,571 


* Edmund Burke. 










19 


Making an aggregate excess for 
six years of 


|have induced a few of the Democratic mem- 
Ca,199,42(kbers, influenced by local considerations, to go 
During that period of time the population of|wiih them. Thus are the Federal members 


increase one fifth. If so 
Take from 

The reasonable aggregate increase 
of expenses for six years, which a- 
mounts to 


15,760,782 


the country has increased nearly one Tijthemselves, the very perpetrators of the sins 

would not be unreasonable to suppose, that the,which they charge upon the Government. In 
necessary expenses of the Government shouldiprivate life, such conduct would be denounced 

as the blackest of villany ; in political life, it is 
865,199,420 all right, because it is done by the party who 
possess all the morals and religion of the com¬ 
munity. 

Indipendent Treasury System. 

849,430,644 I kave a few words to say in relation to the 
'Independent Treasury System, more with a view 
to show by facts, that it is a safer system than 
the Bank Deposite System, than to explain its 
nature, for that is now pretty well uudei-stood 
by the people. It proposes a separation of the 
89,000,000 business of the Government from the Banks.— 
That is its great principle. Its next important 
4,000,000 feature, is collecting the Government revenues 
in gold and .‘silver. This would operate as a 
check upon the Banks, and by calling upon 
them frequently for specie, it would prevent their 
ruinous expansions and contractions. The an¬ 
nual expenses of the system would be from 
5,275,000 820,000 to 810,000. It would probably keep in 
deposite and in transitu, about four millions of 
coin. But it would consummate the great object 


And it leaves 
to be accounted for. That''excess 
is accounted for thus, viz : 

1. The disbursements of the P. O. 
Department for 1836 and 7, which 
were never included in the appro¬ 
priations until 1836, 

2. The increased amount paid for 
Pensions 

3. The foreign Indemnities obtain¬ 
ed by Gen. Jackson, for the very 
men who now clamor against the 
Government, were first paid into 
the Treasury, and disbursed to the 
claimants by appropriation 

4. Received in trust for the Chick- 
asaws and other Indians, and in¬ 
vested by appropriation 

5. Drawback duties paid'to Mer¬ 
chants 


475^000 

[The above cannot be called actual expenses.] 

6. Expenses ot the Black Hawk 
war. Creek outrages, A:c. at least 

7. Paid to extinguish Indian titles 


2,595,OOOjwhich every patriot should ardently desire,—/At; 

indepvudence of the Government of the Banks. Un- 
dei* that system,while the People’s money would 
be safer, it would also be ever at their disposal 
through the Gov'erninent.over which they always 
have control. If this Nation were at war with 
20,000,000 another power, the Banks could compel it to 
6,500.000jj.^jjjj^-j loan ignominious peace, by su.spendir.g 

-;:'77“^|Spccie payments, and thus keeping within their 

yai,Its iiie People’s money, and depriving 
Leaving an excess of GovcrnmeiU of the means to carrv on that 

w'hich trifling sum only can be charged to thej^.^P gaccessfuDy. This alone is a sumcient ar- 
account of extravagant appropriation, favor of the separation of Bank and 

these expenditures nor any of a similar k>nd, The true secret of the strenuous exer- 

were required, or made, during Mr Adams’ Ad- tio^s of the Banic party, to prevent the adoption 


ministration. 

The Federalists in Congress the true cause of cx- 
trncugance if there is any. 


of that Si’.stern, is, a dt termination to conqiur the 
Governmint of the Veople, and bring it a captioe 
and vassal at ike footstool of the Banks. Then our 


The facts I have adduced are drawn from rub- Govermuciit would not be a representative Dc 
- • inocracy, but an Oligarchy of Banking corpora¬ 

tions. But I proposed to confine my remarks 
to the safety and cheapness ot the system. In 
order to show the danger of crftrusling the ofli- 
cers of the Government with its revenues, the 
opposition have hunted up the name of every 
defaulter since its foundation, and have ascer¬ 
tained the aggregate amount of all the defalca¬ 
tions to be about one million of dollars. This 
fact has been paraded in the columns of every 
Treasury, amounting to more //mu SIXTY-ifcderal newspaper from IMaine to Georgia, in or- 


lie docuinents, and are thei’efore indisputable. 

And the documents and Journals of Congress 
show, that the Federal opyosiiion in that body, 
zoith no other apparent object than to afford a 
pretext to abuse the Government for its e-rtrava- 
gance, attempted to swell the public expenditures 
to a vastly higher amount. And they prove, too, 
beyond the jiowerof contradiction, that the Fed¬ 
eral members of Congress voted for appropriii- 
tions beyond the estimates of the Secretary of the 

Treasury, amounting to more than SIXTY- , . 

NINE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, 7 //om/ider to shew the danger ol entrusiing the keep 
for appropriations exceeding the estimates of //n-ing ol the public money to men, in>lf’a<| of bwd- 
SecTCtary in the. enormous sum of NINETY-jiless and soulless coiqioraiions. On the otlier 
SIX MILLIONS. That party is, in truth, the,hand we have the following laets. Since ibi 1, 
author of all the extravagance of the Govern-jihe Government has lost over 813,000,000 intei- 
raent,^f there has been any. Sometimes theyiest included, by Banks ^ Bauknotets. Irorn 










20 


17 to 1834 there v/ere deposited in Banks nearly 
§350^000,000 from which a loss of §1,254, 
421 was sustained. From the organization of the 
Government nearly $10,053,006,000 have pas¬ 
sed through the hands of its officers, on which a 
loss of only about §1,000,000 has been sustained 
by defalcations. Besides, $70,000,000 have 
been coined at the Mint, not one cent of which 
has been lost. Thus it appears that the loss by 
Government officers, is less than one tenth oi one 
per cent, while the loss sustained by the Banks, 
is one and three tenths per cent. Facts, there¬ 
fore, triumphantly vindicate the superior safety 
of the Sub-Treasury. These facts are to be 
found in Mr Woodbury’s letters toCongress,&: it 
IS but justice to say, that Mr W. is one of the 
most accurate and indefatigable statistical wri¬ 
ters of this country, and one of the ablest Sec¬ 
retaries who have presided over the Finances of 
the Nation, as time will clearly demonstrate.— 
But the checks and restraints upon the officers 
of the Government, will be still stronger under 
the Sub Treasury System. Heavy bonds will 
be required, and the improper use of the public 
funds will be made felony, and punished by 
imprisonment in the penitentiary. The on¬ 
ly security we can have for the fidelity of the 
Bahks, aside from that furnished by way of 
the bonds and guaranties of friends, is the'hon- 
or of their managers. They have no bodies to 
be held to bail, nor imprisoned, for a breach of 
trust. It is perfectly ab.^urd to suppose that men 
will be more likely to do their duty while shel¬ 
tered beneath a charter, and beyond the reach of 
the law, than under a full exposure in their per¬ 
sons and reputations, to the heavy penalties im¬ 
posed by law for a breach of trust. 

If, at any time there could have been any 
doubt as to the practical operation of the Inde¬ 
pendent Treasury, all doubt respecting it is now 
dispelled. Since the suspension of specie pay¬ 
ments, more than eighteen months since, the 
system has been in operation—it was forced up¬ 
on the Government by that act of the Banks, 
and by other violations on their part, of the De- 
posite act-of 1836. The Government had no 
other recourse but to receive and disburse its 
revenues by its own officers, because the Banks, 
having violated the laws, and forfeited their con¬ 
tracts with the Government, it could not employ 
them. The Independent Treasury has, therefore, 
been in operation more than eighteen months, 
without, indeed, the checks and restraints pro¬ 
posed by the Administration ; and under its sal¬ 
utary operation the country has risen from the 
■fate commercial paral)’’sis, and prosperity again 
crowns the efforts of honest industry with its 
rich rewards. 

The opposition have confidently predicted that 
business would not again revive, and prosperity 
again return, until the ‘^wicked” and despotic 
measures of the Goveraiment were reversed, and 
a National Bank established. The Government 
,>».s pursued its just and wi€« system of policy 


and a National Bank has not biJen created ; yet. 
business has revived, and prosperity has return¬ 
ed. Thus has time proved the federal soothsay¬ 
ers to be fal.se prophets—it has induced that party 
to throw (or rather pretend to throw) the Bank 
overboard. 

The Federal Party sinking as the country rises. 

The late pressure and panic were brought up¬ 
on the country by the action of the very institu- 
tion.s, and the very system of policy, which the 
Federal Party sustains. And like evil spirits of 
mischiefdhe federalists joined in ihe_wicked work 
of the Banks, a.ud did ail they could "to aggravate 
the panic which the Banks induced, lor political 
purposes. Their only hope is from the embarrass¬ 
ments of the country and the suffering of the 
people. Wilber force very truly remarked of the 
English whigs, that they were “G/atZ to see just 
so much mischief befall the cotintry as would 
bring themselves into office.^’ [Life fVilberforce, 
VoL. 2, p. 181.] He could not have described in 
more graphic terms, the ‘whigs’ of this country. 
They exult to see mischief befall the country, 
that, in the suffering and confusion incident, 
they can persuade the People, that it is to be at¬ 
tributed to the measures of the Government.— 
^^They rise as the country sinks^ and sink as it rises” 
—to the true patriot a most melancholly and ap¬ 
palling fact. Never w'as its truth more cfSarly 
demonstrated than in the results of the late pan¬ 
ic. When the country was convulsed from cen¬ 
tre to extremities, with the-distress and suffering 
which swept ov^er the land like a desolating tem¬ 
pest, the Federal Party rose in the ascendant. — 
Slate after State fell into their hands. And now, 
ere the effects of the storm have subsided, they 
have again gone down—almost sunk into the 
same restless, croaking, and vengeful minority 
in which they have remained, with little excep¬ 
tion, since the organization of the Government. 
They have lost nearly everything they gained, 
and nothing but a diminished majority in New- 
York keeps their courage up for another cam¬ 
paign. One year more will sweep that faction, 
whose principles are alien to our institutions, 
hostile to liberty, and opposed to the great cause 
of reform and improvement, into its usual and 
accustomed insignificance and oblivion. 

On the other hand the Democracy have every 
thing to encourage them. The clouds which, 
in the gloomy period of the late commercial cri’ 
sis, lowered over their cau.se, have been dispel¬ 
led by the light of truth. The sun of prosperity 
again sheds its genial rays upon our beloved 
country, and with its return,have come cheerful¬ 
ness, contentment, and satisfaction. Victory 

has also returned to the Democratic standard.__ 

Nearly all that was lost during the last period 
referred to, has been recovered. One year more 
will complete the grand series of Democratic 
triumphs, by bringing those States which tem¬ 
porarily yielded to the fury of the storm, agai 4 
into the republican fold, 




21 


Remarki addressed to the Revolutionary Sol‘]y^c can never repay. Bat, you will not go u 


diers present. 


Irequiled. You will receive your justly raeriu 


I observe in this assembly, some whose whit-^^ward in that world lo whose portals you hai 


ened locks and trembling terms, denote them to 
be men of the Revolutionary age. Venerable Fa¬ 
thers ! To you this day must be one of grateful 
recollection—of thrilling association. The vic¬ 
tory which we have assembled here to commem¬ 
orate, is not, indeed, one in which you took 
part ; but Its object, and its moral efl'ects, are 
the same. It confirmed and perpetuated the 
glorious principles,—the precious liberties, which 
you sacrificed your comfort and property, and 
perilled your healths and lives, to secure. It 
cannot but awaken in your minds, a lively re¬ 
membrance of the trials, dangers, sufleringsand 
sacrifices, which you endured and made, to pur¬ 
chase the rich boon of freedom which your coun 


now nearly arrived. But, would 'to God th 
you might forever remain among us, to teach 1 
your examples, the holy lessons of patriotisni.- 
The destiny of man is death. You have esca 
ed it on the field of battle to meet it at anoth 
day. But, you have, indeed been fortuna 
men. Your years are full. You have lor 
been spared to participate in the rich blessinj 
which you have secured to your beloved cou 
tiy. And when the Father of us all shall c£ 
you above, to receive you richer and higher thr 
earthly rewards, remember, veterans of tl 
Revolution, you will go attended by the plaudi 
and blessings of the millions of your gratef 
countrymen. We venerate your time-honon 


try now enjoys. The illustrious hero of Newjl^cks. We bow in homage before your stei 
Orleans is also a man of the Revolutionary age;'^^^ numerous virtues. And we shall bid adit 
When but a mere youth he shed his bloOvd inthatl''® venerable forms, with eyes moistent 

holy cause in which yon were engaged, and tears, and hearts full of .sorrow, 

his maturer years, he “ filled the measure of his' Remarks addt essed to the Ladies present 
country's glory” on the l^attle field, by one of diej Ladies of this assunhly ! Yoi 

most brilliant and remarkable victories which|pj.gjj^.rjQg here on this occasion attests, that yo 
history records. Fathers,—I address you asalive to those high and holy impulses 
such for I feel that you are such,—Fathers, you!pg^j-jQj|gp;j^ which have led so many of your f 
stand among us like the venerable oaks of the ijjgrs, husbands, and brothers, to convene wit 


forest, whose aged tops have been scathed by;jg {j^g^jg No circumstance could be mo 

gratifying to the friends of liberty, nor mo 
clearly denote the progress of liberal principle 
We are aware, tliat the usages and customs of s 


the lightning’s shock, and withered by the frosts 
of centuries. You are the landmarks and mon¬ 
uments which remain here, to betoken the exist 
enceof a by-gone age. You lived in ‘‘limes.gjgiy you should participate in tl 

which tried men’s souls.” You saw death thickL.g^lp gp^^ angry conflicts of the political aren 
around you on every side—You beheld disiressj.^pj is right. Heaven foriried vvonij 

and suffering in »very form and in every place, jgj. g purer and more elevated sphere of actio 
If 3 mu failed in the perilous enterprise in whiclm^ gave her a more delicate nature, and finer fa 
you had embarked, your inevitable doom bestowed upon man. She wasgil 


the halter. But you were engaged in a righteous 
cause—in the cause of Independence. 'J be love 
of country fired your hearts with courage, and 
the love of liberty nerved your arms with 


cd with the power to fix his affections,aod throuj 
the influence which the possession of those gi' 
her, to temper his disposition, soften his ma 
tiers, and refine his feelings. Through this soun 


strength. \ on fought and conquered. ^^"’iof influence, if she comprehends her true po 5 
much wrong and suflenng nave you saved your 


, , , tion, she may exert a power which is incalculabl 

joy and happ.ness hold!within her grn.p, the n.o 

ur e ow mgs, j j ai well-being of society, liut, site lias duties at 


country ! How much 
you diffused among your 

heroic acts ! Fathers, cairy back*your 11101110 -;“ • 1 ■ 

ries to that past, but renowLd age in which “P»" totnniensura 

were the prominent actors. Then tlte eolroes P>;»f f» possesses. T o wen,, 

the savage war-whoop had scarcely died away |‘s onIrusted the duty of implant.ng ,n the infa 

on the plains where our towns and cities are uowd'lo m.nd, those germs of characly wh.ch are 
buiit. Forests then crowned the hills «het.vf'e J'-'olopod m the future man. It is her pro 
peaceful herds now ruminate; and wild beastsimoe to sow the seeds of virtue, morahty, and lo 
haunted the vales now teeming with the hum of.of country, m the minds and hearts of the risn 
the busy village. Contrast the condiiiDn How 'j^st the trust ! Ho 

our beloved country as it then was, with responsibility . It has been sa 

condition at the pre.sent lime. We have grown,lli®t woman has nothing to do with politics, 
up a great and mighty people. We are becomethat she has nothing to do with the low ai 
one of the proudest and most powerful nationsjvulgar contentions, which, under the garb of pi 
of tire earth. Religion here has reared her sa- ilics, divide and rend society into hostile and prt 
cred fanes. Education her classic halls, andjciipiive factions. But, she should bo so far d 
happiness and prosperity every where abound.,quainled with politics in the true sense of i 
This, venerable fathers, is the woik of your|term, as to understand the nature and princip 
hands, and of your compatriots of the Kevolu- of the government under which she lives. H 
lion. We owe you n debt of gratitude xvhich heart throbs as ardently for liberty and indepc 

2 '* 






22 


le as that of her companion of the other *ex.'gentlemen of the age, is most antiataral. They 
cheek flushes as deeply with the glow of pat- have only to refer to his conduct in the defence 
sm, and her bosom swells as powerfully with of New Orleans, for the most convincing evis 
impulses of enthusiasm as his does, when the|dence of his chivalrous devotion to their sex. 
Is of valor, or heroism, with which our coun-|They cannot have forgotten that “ Beauty and 
3 history abounds, are recounted. Recur to Booty” were the watchwords of the barbarian 
revolutionary age and behold what sacrifices soldiery who were beleaguering that devoted city. 


made, what privations she endured, what de 
on she displayed, in her country’s cause.— 
h the feelings she possesses, and the mornen- 
duties which devolve upon her, as the first 


The most unlicensed indulgence in spoil and plun¬ 
der was promised to stimulate them to the con¬ 
flict. At this perilous crisis who stepped for¬ 
ward and pledged his life to defend the city, or 
her of the human intellect and the former of perish in the last ditch ? Who did save the city 
human character, she should have that intel-from pillage, and its defenceless women from 
lal and moral training w'hich is requisite, to'the insults and violence of a brutal soldiery? It 
er to fulfil the vast obligations which rest up-jwasGen. Jackson. Gratitude for his chivalrous 
her. She should be qualified to form thejdefence of the sex at New Orleans, should ever 
acter of the future men of the Republic,—jmake the American women his warm and devo- 
should be fitted to fill with fidelity and credit ted friends. Pardon me for the allusion. 


lersejf, the r^iations of mother, wife, and 
'hter,^to American freemen. In the appropri- 
:ondiiion of life, she should be able to display 
;ls like those of Cornelia, the celebrated mat- 


Conclusion. 


power ; or, when she yields herself to the 
ms of those fanatical hypocrites of the other 
who tamper with her better feelings, and mis- 
her generous sympathies, she exposes her- 
to certain derision and ridicule. The inlellec- 


At the commencement of this address I alluded 
to the Democratic Principle. It is a 
of Rome. In fulfiling the sphere of her nat-jPrinciple coeval with lime, of perennial growth, 
duties, the influence of woman is great in- and immortal vigor—the great and irresistible 
1. But, w’hen she steps beyond that sphere,'moral agent which has produced all the social 
n she aspires to wield the sceptre of state, to'and civil reforms that have taken place in the 
ence legislation, to control the action of ofii-!conditlon of man, since his first congregation in 

o * i ^ ' o O 

communities. It is the basis of Democracy, and 
the secret of all its vast triumphs and splendid 
achievements, in that great cause which has for 
its high and holy purpose, the physical, intellec¬ 
tual, and social liberty of the human race. It 
, moral, and religious world, is woman’s true recognizes no government as legitimate, which is 
e. There serenity, peace, and happiness a-!not founded upon the benign principles of Equity 
id. We, who become perverted in heartjand Humanity. Its beneficent influences sur- 
mind, by exposing ourselves to the contam- round all, as the invigorating dews, the refresh- 
ng influences, and by mingling in the rough ing rains, and the genial .sunlight of Heaven des- 
licts and boisterous turmoils, of life, look to'cend on all. And that Government which, in its 
home of woman fora clearer atmosphere,jdispensations, most closely imitates Providence in 
for a respite from the cares and perplex4tles|its government of the Universe, comes nearest to 
le world. Let her then study her true inler-jthe spirit of the Deliocratic Principle.— 
and display in action, those qualities which lnjuring none, it seeks to raise, elevate, and ini- 
ler peculiar gifts, and she may exert an influ-jprove all. Its tendencies and sympathies are for 
in society, more potent than any otlier, andithe masses—for the great whole of the human 

family. Its great purpose is protection, not co¬ 
ercion and oppression. The great problem which 
heroic deeds it presents for the solution of time, is, to discover 
character ofjlhat amount cf governmoni which will secure to 
the individual and to society, the most perfect 
protection and the largest sum of happiness, with 
the least restraint. The cause of Democracy is 
the cause of Reform and Progress, and that glori¬ 
ous cause, as has been most truly and beautifully 
remarked, “ lives in the spirit of the age.”— 
Lei us then, my democratic friends, be faithful 
and true to the great trust confided to us as a 


uclive of the most salutary results, 
might w’ilh propriety make a single allusion 
le illustrious individual, whose 
this day commemorate. The 
, Jackson has been painted by bis enemies in 
most odious and revolting colors. Ele has 
held up to the view, as a monster in human 
, without a single virtue, or quality, to re- 
1 him from the rank of a brute, or savage, 
so often have those gross libels upon his char- 
• been reiterated, that many have at length 
bed the impression, that they have some^ 

Jation in trulli. This impression, has been party. 

prevalent, particularly among the women oil VVe shall have, as we have ever had, much to 
England. But no impression could be far- contend against. The enemie.s of freedom are 
from the truth. Fevv men have ever existedjever plotting and striving to effect its overthrow, 
better and purer hearts, and more noble andiThe price of Liberty is eternal vigilance and cx- 
ed virtues. That the ladies of this republic ertion. But we shall in the end triumph, not only 
Id imbibe a dislike to Gen. Jackson, who is'here in this land, where the victory is now almost 
of the most urbane, courtly, and chivalrous achieved, but in those countries that are still 








trodden down by the ruthless foot of the despotltwo countries. In the prices current ?4,44 
and oppressor. Kings and Princes must bow be- are assumed as the par of exchange on E 
fore the potent sceptre which wo wield—thejland. That is the pound sterling, according 


sceptre of truth, justice, and philanthropy. Ours 
is, indeed, the cause of universal liberty, and the 
Poet hath assured us that— 

“ Freedom’s battle once begun, 

Bequeathed by bleeding sire to son, 

Though baflled oft is ever won.” 

NOTE. 

The author of the foregoing Address, finds, 
.■>n reviewing the data on which his calcu¬ 
lations are based, and from which his deductions 
are drawn, that, in his remarks on Exchanges 
he overlooked an important elefnent in the dif¬ 
ference of Exchange between this country and 
England. He assumed, that the difference in 
Exchange between New York and England, 
would be sim ply the cost of transportation of cash 
funds, and the insurance thereon ; which are the 
main ingredients that constitute the difference in 
Domestic Exchanges, when the currency is in a 
sound state. A more important element goes to 
constitute that difference. That element is the. 
different relative valuation of the coinage of the 


the old valuation of American coinage,expres 
in dollars and cents. The English sovereigr 
gold coin, contains 113 grains and a fractioi 
pure gold. That coin is intended to repres 
the pound sterling. But, according to the n 
valuation of gold by the law of 1834, the so% 
eign is worth $1,87 and a fraction, instead 
84,44 4-9. The same weight, therefore, of Am 
ican gold as is contained in the English so\ 
eign, is not worth so much by 43 cents am 
fraction, which is about 9 7-10 cents on a doll 
That amount must be added to the Americ 
dollar in order to make it equal in value to i 
English dollar. Therefore, an English g> 
coin, having the same weight with an Americ 
gold com, is, according to the present mint va 
ation of gold in both countries, worth 9.7- 
per cent., or 9.7-10 cents on a dollar, me 
than the American coin. The great mass of fa 
collected, and the numerous calculations mat 
by the author, which had to be done amidst i 
quent interruptions, and other occupations, w 
he trusts, furnish a sufficient apology for t 
error. 





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